OGDEN -- For many years, the job of activating Red Cross volunteers in the Top of Utah was done by volunteer Ronald Carter, disaster services human resources director.
Now someone else will have to make the calls. Carter lost his battle with cancer Saturday.
"Ron was a great example for Red Cross volunteers," said Frederick Henderson, emergency services director of the American Red Cross of Northern Utah. "He was a rough old cop, but in a way that was loving and caring, with the best interests of all involved."
Carter was born Nov. 9, 1937, in Los Angeles. For a decade, he worked as a laboratory technician for Grand Central Rocket in Mentone, Calif., which later became Lockheed Propulsion, where he helped develop the solid fuel propellant for the Mercury space capsule.
After moving to Utah, Carter began volunteering with the American Red Cross in 1993.
He held a variety of volunteer positions, including disaster instructor, damage assessment and records worker, communications coordinator and administration service manager. He retired in 2005 because of ill health.
"He was one of the most valued volunteers we had," volunteer coordinator Judy Loper said. "He worked as hard as any paid employee. Dedicated, very dedicated."
As the disaster services human resources director, Carter contacted volunteers based on their specialties, such as the ability to run a shelter or run an entire disaster relief operation, to respond to emergencies across the country. Hurricane season was a particularly busy time.
"All during hurricane season, he had to be very close to his computer," Henderson said.
Carter maintained the database so the chapter knew which volunteer was best suited for the job.
When Carter got sick about a decade ago and could no longer travel to the offices at 30th Street and Harrison Boulevard, he began working from his home computer.
"Ron was just wonderful to put himself at the end of the barrel, so to speak," Henderson said.
During his years of service, Carter was not one to stay home in Utah while his fellow volunteers helped across the country.
He assisted in many national-level disasters, including floods in Texas, Ohio, South Carolina and Georgia, as well as Hurricane Fran and the Oakland Hills fires.
For his dedication, Carter received the Clara Barton Medal from the Red Cross and a lifetime achievement award from the Northern Utah Chapter.
Disaster Chairwoman Peggy Mecham, who began volunteering with the American Red Cross of Northern Utah in 1994, said she enjoyed working with Carter all of those years.
"He was a wonderful person," Mecham said. "He cared about people, and he cared about the Red Cross."
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