Teresa, Lady Carter

CARING mother and wife Teresa, Lady Carter, who will be remembered for her kind heart, died on September 6, aged 89, at her home in Potterne.

She was born in Banff, Canada, on April 14 in 1931 before moving to the UK seven years later with her parents Charles and Elsie.

They had planned to go back to Canada in 1940 but Teresa became sick with glandular fever so they decided to stay until she was better.

When the boat they would have boarded sank, her parents saw it as a sign they should stay in the UK.

In 1947, aged 16, she first met her husband Lord Dennis Carter at a Catholic youth club.

They were engaged in 1956 and married a year later in Brighton before spending their honeymoon enjoying the sights in London, especially visiting theatres, a particular passion of the bride's.

On October 31 1959 they had their first child Katherine, with son Andrew being born four years later.

Sadly both children were born blind and with severe hearing loss and congenital heart disease.

The Carters cared for them devotedly until Andrew died in May 1982 and Katherine in September 2004. Cruelly, Lord Carter died from pancreatic cancer in 2005.

Lady Carter wanted her children to be remembered and so she set up a charity to help disabled children, named after them both.

Her friend, Kevin Mulhern, met her after he first got to know Katherine and Andrew 50 years ago, while he was completing his university thesis on language for blind people.

He believes she would have wanted to be remembered for setting up the trust and helping other children.

Kevin said: “She and I were together in New York in 2008 and it was around the time homelessness was a major issue in the city. It was the most extraordinary thing but she couldn’t walk past someone who was sleeping rough without talking to them and offering them money.

“I will never forget it, she told me ‘I can’t forget how lucky I am’ and it’s an expression you’d never use for Teresa because she lost both her children and husband. She always emphasised how fortunate she was in life.”

Lady Carter died from complications after suffering from a stroke in July.

She will be missed by her family and friends and will always be remembered for her caring nature.