DERBY, Kan. — A practicing dentist in Wichita, Kan., for 34 years, Dr. Craig Carter, learned and earned some of his most valuable lessons at Ponca Military Academy, which helped him become successful.
As the son of a single mother, Carter, who was known as Corky Thompson, during his 1953 to 1959 years, overcame shyness, which had plagued him during his first and second grades at public school. Consequently he never raised his hand to answer a question and admits he could barely read and write.
"I loved PMA. It was most important in my life." Carter said. At the academy he overcame his shyness, the teachers were helpful, he learned structure and from then on he was a straight A student through the ninth grade.
Carter remembers playing a lot of sports at PMA, where his roommate was Ken Denton, who now is a successful florist in Wichita. Denton was featured earlier in this series. Carter particularly remembers Captains Moore, and Cubbage and Major Baker. After PMA, he returned to Wichita to finish high school. When his mother remarried, he was willing to change his last name if he could his first name, so he became Craig Carter.
After high school he and his wife Carolyn were married in 1961 and are looking forward to celebrating 50 years of marriage. Craig worked for Love Boxes, making cardboard boxes in the evenings, while attending Wichita State University. When Craig acquired enough credits he entered dentistry school at the University of Missouri at Kansas City from 1964 to 1968.
The Carters returned to Wichita, where he would practice dentistry for almost three and a half decades. During his years at dental school all of their children, three sons and one daughter was born. One of the sons died accidently in 1987. The family lived in a mobile home that the Carters had moved to school.
Eventually the family settled into a house in Goddard, Kan., while Craig built his dental practice in Wichita. Later they would relocate to an acreage near Derby, Kan., build a house and a pond on 40 acres. Dr. Carter retired in 2002. The children and 10 grandchildren, six of them live close to the grandparents and enjoy the acreage, fishing and other sports.
An important year in Carter's life was in 1988, when he became a Christian. "I learned what the purpose of life was and that life is a gift." Carolyn and Craig attend Calvary Baptist Church at Derby.