Kyle Carter's Fearless Battle

Kyle was not just an employee, he was a very special man; my big brother, my friend, my mentor, and someone I aspire to be like. Many of you know he had been battling Ampullary Cancer for well over a year and not once did he ever give up in his battle. Especially in this last year, we spent many evenings together just talking. Knowing he had stage 4 cancer, I never heard him complain, want sympathy, or ask for help. All he cared about was getting healthy enough to get back to work. Kyle was everybody's friend and he just loved coming to work everyday to help anyone he could.  What an inspiration. 

Kyle had a few things he was very passionate about. I am not sure what order to put these in but here you go.

FAMILY: His family of 4, which then grew to a family of 5 later in his life, meant the world to him. I will never forget that morning when he told me a new addition to his family was on the way. I could tell he was nervous but I could also see he knew this addition to his family would be a blessing. All of his kids adored him. Watching the joy Mason brought to Kyle and to hear all the stories and memories they made just proved what kind of dad Kyle was. Sophie, his daughter, is a complete trooper. Kyle's fishin' buddy. I wanted to send Kyle on a deep sea fishing trip and told him to invite a few friends. Typical Kyle, his friends he chose were his daughter, Sophie and his brother, Hal. True family man. Sophie got to enjoy a big fishing trip with Kyle just a couple months ago in Alaska, and what a blessing that was. She is the perfect daughter to Kyle. Kyle's son Austin is an amazing grown man now. I will never forget little Austin growing up. Austin provided Kyle his first grand baby, a little girl that Kyle absolutely adored. He would show up many mornings with stories about his little grand baby and the new things she was learning and discovering. You could tell she had a sweet spot in Kyle's heart. Brandi, Kyle's wife, was his rock through all of this. She and Kyle would spend hours together watching the kids do their thing; dance, basketball, rugby, lacrosse, baseball, etc.  They built the all American family and raised some excellent children together. Divide and conquer was the way they lived; Kyle off to a practice, Brandi off to dance and then they'd see each other at the end of the day. 

FISHING: This guy could catch a fish in a mud puddle! I have never known someone who just knew where to put the bait. Never would I place a bet with him on the biggest, or the most fish caught. He just had the secret and was always happy to share his tricks but for some reason those tricks only worked for him. Anytime Kyle was not working or chasing his kids around you would find him on some river or lake in Oregon.

WORK: I know, crazy huh? Kyle loved coming to work everyday. He enjoyed the people he worked with and the customers even more. He would go above and beyond to take care of people.  Helping people was his passion, almost to a fault. We would often remind Kyle that fixing cars for free in the parking lot was not a good business practice because we are a for-profit company, LOL.  Didn't matter to him, he still did it anyway because that's what Kyle did and he loved it. Kyle also had a passion for the employees, he loved helping them out and wanted to be everyone's friend. Again, to a fault. It's hard to be a boss and a friend, but that's what he did because that was Kyle. I have learned so much from watching Kyle and his people skills. He taught me the value of each person here and I could not thank him enough for that. 

FLOWERS, PLANTS, HIS YARD: This guy was intense! Another passion of Kyle's was to have an immaculate landscape and the most perfect plants and shrubs. He would always come in talking about some plant he just bought, or how he discovered there was a weed in his yard so he took the yard out and put a new one in.  When he wasn't fishing he would be plant/shrub shopping.

These are just a few things that maybe some of you didn't know about Kyle. I could go on and on for days about this amazing guy. 

Kyle would never have asked for anything, and as a matter of fact, would have given you his last dollar if he thought you needed it. He was the most giving man. Even while battling this evil cancer, I got a call one evening to come pick up a couple bags of his famous chicken and cornbread he had made for us! What the heck?!?! Who does that when they're battling for their life?? Kyle Carter did. That was the Kyle we all knew and loved.

We know there can be financial strain when a family is going through loss. We would like to help make things a little easier for the Carter Family during this difficult time.  If you are able, please consider donating to the Carter family. If you are not able to donate, prayers for his family are appreciated just as much.