“Family, we didn’t come today to mourn a fallen hero,” said 18th Ward Alderman Terry Kennedy. “We did not come here today to mourn a fallen champion. We came here today to praise an elevated warrior – a fighter on behalf of our community.”
Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church’s 2,000 plus seat sanctuary was nearly at capacity Saturday morning as the city said farewell to 27th Ward Alderman Gregory Carter – tragically killed on Wed. August 1 in a traffic collision. But mourns of a life lost were muted by the echoes of a community well served through his nearly 20 year tenure as an elected official.
“Somebody said to me the other day that they heard the voice of Marcus Garvey in the street. Somebody told me that they felt the spirit of Nat Turner,” Kennedy said. “Somebody the other day told me they heard the articulation of Fredrick Douglass running down the neighborhood – I said to them, ‘no you didn’t…that was Gregory Carter.’”
Rousing applause came from St. Louisans – seemingly from every walk of life.
Elected officials sat to the left and represented nearly every ward in the city. Residents of the Carter’s beloved 27th Ward were asked to stand and at least 100 rose to their feet. Some wore scrubs and uniforms – implying that they took time away from their workday to pay a worthy tribute.
His Northwest High School classmates showed up in droves – and included host Pastor Rev. Michael Jones and Bishop Calvin Scott of Believer’s Temple Church, who delivered Carter’s eulogy.
Some of the most distinguished citizens in the city were on hand as well, and each of the respective groups had their own experiences that expressed the lasting impact and legacy the Carter family Greg came to personify.
“Greg loved his neighborhood – the people of the 27th ward – and his city with a fierce and abiding passion,” said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. “I bring the regrets of a city that will miss him and miss him deeply. And one that will not soon see someone like him. Greg’s most charismatic expression was his smile. It was genuine unforced and infectious expression of serving his people, serving his community. The world is a dimmer and duller place without him.”
Plenty of the distinguished speakers reminded the audience of the lasting legacy of his mother, former state senator Paula J. Carter, and how he was able to shine in her light.
“Gregory Carter never forgot the lessons his mother instilled him, me and the many others she called her babies,” said Judge Jimmie Edwards. “She summoned us to her bedside in November 2001 and reminded us that regular people died so we could achieve our great status in life and that we who benefited from their deaths had an obligation to do justice to the less fortunate, care for the children and the community. The consistent story here today is that Greg – the most affable of us all – fulfilled his mom’s wishes with his obligation to his family, his commitment to the entire community…especially his beloved 27th Ward.”
The stories of Carter’s fervor in the efforts to make his ward, his community and his city a better place had him playing roles that ranged from community advocate to cowboy.
“I told him, ‘man you better be careful, you ain’t John Wayne’,” fellow Northwest High School Class of 1976 alum Terry Turner said after riding with Carter through the neighborhood and watching him actively fight crime. “He told me, ‘hey, I’m not letting anybody get away with doing wrong in my ward.’
I realized I was right. He wasn’t John Wayne. He was Gregory Carter. Greg Carter would confront a Crip, he would confront a Blood, and he would confront that drug addict who was looking out for nobody but himself and his habit. John Wayne probably wouldn’t do that.”
As city License Collector Mike McMillan expressed, Carter’s commitment went well beyond the supposed boundaries of his position.
“Not only did Greg love the 27th Ward, but he was the equivalent of an alderman at Large for the entire city,” McMillan said. “When projects where going on, he didn’t see the political subdivisions – he saw a city who needed help. He saw an entire community.”
He stayed true to the promise he made to his mother as she passed the torch to him.
“It is upon each generation to continue upon the legacy of the ones before them. Gregory Carter did that,” Kennedy said. “He continued the legacy of Paula Carter and the great work that she laid. He continued in her footsteps, but he knew that he was not her. He created new footprints – a new legacy that extended hers by creating organizations, by building programs, by creating agencies and by making services and processes.”
Although alongside his mother, through Carter’s work and unyielding commitment on behalf of his ward and his city he will forever be cemented as a champion in his own right.
“In this life, it is what you do for others that matters most,” Edwards said. “And Gregory’s legacy will live in the hearts and minds of a proud family and a grateful community. I know in honoring Alderman Carter today, I honor the best in humanity. Well done my friend…rest in peace.”
