Miami Herald - May 6, 2009
Steve Rothaus, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

"She helped bring winds of change to our community," said former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who met Carter decades ago at Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Miami. "She was a teacher. She cared. She really taught our community about HIV and AIDS. And she did it in a caring way. That was her focus. She had tunnel vision when it came to teaching people."

Carter's journeys took her across the world, from Florida City to Haiti to Nigeria.

"She was a traveling missionary," said her older sister, Patricia Seabrooks, a nurse practitioner who sparked Carter's interest in AIDS prevention while both attended Gamble Memorial Church of God in Christ in Allapattah.

Carter -- known by those close to her as "Ann D." -- came from a large family, the seventh of 11 children. Born in Georgia, she moved to South Florida about 1960. She graduated college in New York and received a master's degree in biomedical technology from Florida International University, Seabrooks said.

She cut a commanding, unforgettable presence that helped make her a leading figure in AIDS prevention, her sister said.

"Anything she was assigned to do, she did," Seabrooks said. "If anyone stood in her way, she threw her weight around. And if you got in her way, she threw it around in a minute."

Carter never judged the folks she counseled, Seabrooks said: 'Some of her best friends were some of 'those people' the church cast aside. They were her friends and supporters. That was her whole life. If you wanted to be with her, you had to help her do it."

For more than 20 years, Carter ran UM's Comprehensive AIDS Center, including clinics on and off campus. The AIDS Institute and Florida Department of Health honored her with an "Unsung Hero Award" at the 2005 Red Ribbon Excellence Awards.

CAR ACCIDENT

She lived in Miramar and retired in 2007 after suffering a seizure and being seriously injured in a car accident, Seabrooks said.

Through the years, Shed Boren, former director of AIDS services at Mercy Hospital, worked closely with Carter on several programs.

"Ann loved the underdog and focused on the underdog," said Boren, now CEO of Sister Emmanuel Hospital in Miami. 'She would try to get you to see 'That's not a prostitute on the corner. She's a woman who became a prostitute, but also a wife and a sister.' She would challenge everyone at the table to look beyond the obvious.

'That was her legacy. She'd say, 'Don't just describe this person based on her demographics. There's more that you need to know about her.' . . . Comprehensive was not just the UM name. It was something she focused on."

Carter took many trips to Africa to teach "education, awareness, prevention and destigmatization," Boren said. "Ann was a short woman with a huge voice and a huge heart."

Every Thanksgiving, Carter made sure her clients ate traditional holiday dinners on tables with cloths.

"She was a big proponent of making sure that all those folks got what they needed in terms of care, but the comforts of home, too," said Richard Standifer, who worked with Carter at a UM clinic in Florida City. "A lot of these people were homeless or substance abusers, in unstable situations in their lives. What better moment to show that but on Thanksgiving? She marshaled in all the troops, like anybody's grandmother at home. It was all about treating people like family."

BASS FIDDLE PLAYER

Carter's husband of 30 years, Richard "Dick" Carter, a blind professional bass fiddle player, died seven years ago. She is survived by their daughter, Erica Carter; her mother, Selena Johnson; four sisters and three brothers; and three grandsons.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Cooper Temple Church of God in Christ, 3800 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens. A reception will be held afterward at El Palacio Hotel, 21485 NW 27th Ave., Miami Gardens.

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