J. C. "Cotton" Carver

J.C. “Cotton” Carver, 93 of Belton, passed away Sunday, December 29, 2019.  A funeral service will be held on Friday, January 3, 2019 at 10:30 AM at Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Belton with Tom Bever officiating.  Visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 PM on Thursday, January 2, 2019 at Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Belton.  Burial to follow services in North Belton Cemetery.

J.C. was born June 21, 1926 to Wade Carlton and Eula Mae (Pickett) Carver in Iowa Park, Texas. J.C. worked in heavy construction running a bulldozer for most of his career.  He built many of the roads and building pads in the area.  He worked on IH35, Scott and White, Mill Creek Golf course and he was the first operator hired when construction began on Stillhouse Hollow Dam.  He retired from construction after having worked for Shallow Ford Construction for many years.

J.C. met the love of his life during a snowball fight and married Juanita Louise Clark on December 16, 1944 in Belton Texas. They were married for almost 62 years and were members of the Belton Church of Christ.

J.C. proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy. He entered the military in the latter part of World War II and returned to Belton at the end of the war.  In 1951 he was called back to service during the Korean Conflict.  J.C. was stationed aboard the USS Betelgeuse AK260 and as a member of the first crew after the ship was commissioned he was a Plank Owner.

J.C. had many hobbies. He and Juanita loved to travel with frequent trips to Colorado to see the fall foliage being a favorite destination.  For several years he shot archery competitively and won many trophies. He was a certified scuba diver and taught classes at Ft. Hood. He loved woodworking and gardening.  He was most of all an avid fisherman.  He loved going to the Texas coast with Port Aransas being a favorite fishing spot.  He spent most of his retirement days fishing on Belton or Stillhouse Lakes with his fishing buddies.

J.C. was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Juanita and a sister Louise Harper.

He is survived by his daughter, Diane Vinson and husband Sam of Belton; one sister, Yvegene White of Cameron, several nieces, nephews, cousins, many good friends, his fishing buddies and his very special fishing buddy, his great, great nephew, Kyson White.  He will be greatly missed and the stories at the coffee shop will never be the same.