Kenneth Wayne Carter Sr., a star East Hampton High School basketball player who was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2013 along with fellow members of the champion 1976-77 team, died on Feb. 27 in South Carolina, where he had lived since 1978. He was 63. The cause was cancer.
After graduating, Mr. Carter, who was known as K.C., went on to play basketball at Anderson College in South Carolina and Auburn University in Alabama.
In South Carolina, he worked for the automotive supplier BorgWarner. He was active with the N.A.A.C.P. and a member of New Galilee Baptist Church in Walhalla, S.C. He spent many years coaching boys and girls recreational basketball in Seneca, S.C. He lived in West Union.
Described as “a devoted husband, father, and grandfather,” he enjoyed gardening, fishing, caring for his dogs, watching sports, and cooking, his family said. “He was an amazing cook, but was a true chef behind the grills,” they wrote. “He truly loved watching others enjoy his food.”
He was born on March 6, 1960, at Southampton Hospital to James O. Carter and the former Evelyn Hayes, and grew up in East Hampton.
Mr. Carter is survived by his wife of 42 years, Sherrie Pruitt Carter, and by three children, Kenny Wayne Carter Jr. of Seneca, Kelly Chavon Carter of Greenville, S.C., and Kamal Jackson of Arizona, and by a grandson, Trey Carter of Seneca, a great-granddaughter, Aaliyah Londyn Carter of Seneca, and a godson, Dr. Gregory Parks of Winston-Salem, N.C.
He also leaves a brother, James Carter of Lithonia, Ga., two sisters, Cheryl Carter of East Hampton and Sheila Carter of Douglasville, Ga., his best friend, Tony Terry of Walhalla, and his close friends James Young of Seneca, Scott Rubenstein of East Hampton, and Ed Petrie of East Hampton, his former high school coach.
Two brothers, Jeffrey Carter and Ralph Gene Carter, died before him.
A service was held on March 2 at the Adams Mortuary in Seneca. A celebration of his life is to be held on April 27 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Clubhouse in Wainscott.
Mr. Carter’s family got together every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas to serve people in need at Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Seneca, and his family has suggested donations in his memory to the soup kitchen, at 106 Jordan Street, Seneca, S.C. 29678.
