Douglas Bryant Carter

Douglas Bryant Carter, M.D., whose bright intellect and analytical skills informed his understanding and concern for the countless hearts and minds he touched during his eighty-four years, died in the early morning hours on October 25^th. The most beautiful fall in recent memory, with shimmering red and gold leaves and bright blue skies, marked his passing. His family sat with him every moment of his last days and nights, and assured him of their love and that his work was done. Doug’s strong sense of loyalty and deep devotion to his family, friends, patients and students was the hallmark of his life.

Fiercely proud of his heritage, Doug loved to recount tales of his maverick pioneer Mormon family, and his parents, Irvin Rankin Carter and Rhoda Bryant Carter, direct descendants of the early settlers of his Salt Lake City birthplace. His older sister Mary Jane was born seven years earlier and his little sister Marge three years later. All grew up in their brick home at 1772 Yalecrest, and attended the neighborhood Uintah Elementary and Roosevelt Junior High, all graduated from East High School.

Entering the University of Utah, Doug had his tuition refunded and spent the money and his days skiing before joining the Army Air Corps Reserves, where, much to his chagrin, he was immediately activated and assigned to the County Hospital. There he developed his love for medicine and for a young nurse, Pat, whom he married, and had two sons, Douglas Bryant, II and Franklin Everett. The marriage ended during the time when Doug was completing his undergraduate education and entering the University of Utah College of Medicine.

A wonderful musician and singer, Doug cut early recordings when he was a boy, and later performed in medical school musical reviews. His natural musical and athletic talents, including tennis, skiing and dancing, attracted the attention of the Dean’s secretary at the medical college, and he and Sheila Wherritt, also of Salt Lake, soon married. With Sheila’s four-year-old daughter Gina in tow, the family moved to Baltimore for Doug’s year-long internship in Psychiatry. As soon as that was completed, he headed straight back to the Rocky Mountains and Colorado, where two more sons, Christopher Barton and Michael John, were born.

Doug continued his psychiatrist training at the University of Colorado Psychiatric Hospital, and spent a year as Director of the Maximum Security Division of Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo. When he returned to the University, he was chosen Chief Resident, and became a Clinical Instructor the next year.

During his long career at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, he was appointed Coordinator, and then Director, of Psychiatric Residency Training, a post he held for almost twenty years. For ten years, he served as Dean of all Graduate Medical Education, and his final promotion to Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry came after serving as acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry for six years.

While Doug’s retirement was shorter-lived than he had planned, he enjoyed being at home, able to work on his myriad household and antique car projects. He and Sheila played tennis daily until she was no longer able. They moved to the Holly Creek Retirement apartments almost two years ago, where Sheila continues to live in an apartment in the Meadows section with their beloved poodle Dusty.

Doug is survived by his wife Sheila; children Doug II (Sue), Frank, Gina (Hugh), Chris (Teresa) and Mike (Jan); grandchildren Josh (Rachel), Tori (Nick), Spencer, and Cameron; great grandchildren Skye and Azure (Josh and Rachel’s children); sister Marge (Bill) Young and nieces Lisa (Steve) Schneider, Susie (Doug) Heffernan and Nancy McCormick and their children, and many more relatives and friends too numerous to list but not forgotten.