Annette Davis Carter was born in Arlington, Georgia on November 5, 1952, to George and Dorothy Davis. She died on September 19, 2021, at the age of 68.
Annette spent her childhood in Arlington with her family and went on to live a remarkable life. She met Jeff Carter, the love of her life and her future husband, on the first day of school at Georgia Southwestern University. Jeff saw her across the student center while he was playing spades, and he told his friends to turn around and look at that pretty girl that just walked in. He told them he was going to marry her, and four years later he did. Jeff and Annette dated through college and were married on April 6, 1975. They were married for 46 years.
Annette was the daughter-in-law of then Governor Jimmy Carter. As newlyweds, she and Jeff traveled the country working on the Carter presidential campaign. Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976. As part of the presidential family, Jeff and Annette’s first house together was the White House. While living in the White House, Jeff and Annette helped host everybody from Bob Dylan to Pope John Paul II.
In some of Annette’s favorite White House memories, she greeted the cast of “Star Wars” after the release of “A New Hope” and John Travolta after he starred in “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.” These experiences were quite extraordinary for Jeff and Annette’s first few years of marriage.
Annette and Jeff moved out of the White House before the end of the Carter Administration, and they enjoyed each other’s company for eight years before they started a family. Their first son Joshua was born in Virginia in 1984.
In 1985, Annette and Jeff moved to Peachtree City, Georgia, where they grew their family with two more boys. Their son Jeremy was born in 1987, and James was born in 1991.
Annette was a homemaker, and she was devoted to raising her three boys. Joshua and James graduated from college and started families. Joshua and his wife Sarah gave Annette her first two grandchildren, Charles and Jonathan. James and his fiancee Anna finally gave Annette a little girl with her granddaughter Rayna.
Annette will be remembered by her friends and family for her easy smile, her fun-loving sense of humor, and her caring nature. She loved to laugh at a particularly bad white elephant gift or a ridiculous pair of earrings. She always saved stories or comics that she thought would make her sons smile.
Annette was a prolific storyteller and often had her listeners in gales of laughter by the end of one of her tales. She loved her family and her friends with all her heart, and they loved her back with all of theirs.
Annette is survived by her husband, Jeff; her children, Joshua (Sarah) and James (Anna); and her grandchildren, Charles, Jonathan, and Rayna. Annette is preceded in death by her middle child, Jeremy. Jeremy was a loss that never healed until her passing. She is also preceded in death by her parents, George and Dorothy Davis.
A celebration of Annette’s life will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia on Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 2:00 PM. If you wish to celebrate Annette’s life, the family asks that all in attendance be vaccinated and masked, as Annette’s immediate family includes immunocompromised individuals that are not yet eligible for the vaccine. Options to attend virtually will be available.
Flowers for the service are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, where Annette Carter served on the Board, are greatly appreciated. The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving can be found at www.rosalynncarter.org.
