Bill Carriker

Bill Parks Carriker died suddenly, but quietly on February 21, 2022. He was at home with his wife Catherine when he passed away early on Monday morning.

The ninth child of Elizabeth and Allison Carriker, Bill was born in December of 1941. Bill attended school in Concord and graduated from Concord High School in 1962. In school Bill was primarily interested in athletics. From his ninth grade year through his senior year, he played on the varsity football team.

After graduation he enrolled in the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, but his college career was interrupted by service in the US Army Reserves where he was first introduced to the world of competitive shooting, a sport at which he excelled and which he continued to enjoy long after his army experience. After his active duty service, Bill returned to Concord, married Catherine St. John, and began working in the management training program of Cannon Mills. Until 1968, he worked with Cannon Mills.

In 1968, Bill and Catherine left Cabarrus County and moved to Blowing Rock, when they both decided to return to college life at Appalachian State University. Bill spent the next two years completing his degree in Business Management. During this period he also met David Rigsby, head of the Industrial Arts Department, who introduced Bill to the world of furniture making, a craft that Bill grew to love and explore for the rest of his life.

Bill and Catherine left Boone in 1971 when Bill accepted a position with Milliken and Company and began his career in the rapidly expanding knitting division of the Milliken organization. His work took him to knitting plant locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. However, as the textile business changed and eventually headed offshore, Bill investigated opportunities in different areas of manufacturing.

In 1986 he returned to North Carolina and purchased a diesel fuel injection pump and turbo remanufacturing operation in the town of Midland. He operated this business until lightening and a fire in 2011destroyed most of its operations. At this point, Bill sold what remained of the diesel business, rebuilt his building, and refocused his life.

He had never forgotten his interest in woodworking and furniture making. He bought equipment, tools, and books. He studied furniture design and styles. He explored museums, joined woodworking groups, and went to seminars. Ultimately, he decided the period of furniture that interested him the most was the 18th century.

As he explored, he also began to create. He worked on small projects and loved working with cherry wood. He learned techniques such as inlaying and made boxes which featured inlayed and fretwork designs. He began making chests with brass pulls and fine beading. He made small tables, an inlayed Bridge table, a corner cupboard, and silver chests. With every project his skills improved. As he learned to carve, his choice of woods expanded to mahagony. He carved ball and claw feet for chests and bed posts and an entire tea table.

Friends asked him to make a Massachusetts Blockfront chest, 18th century styled gun cabinets, swinging cradles, rocking cradles, pencil post beds, bachelor chests, chair side chests with secret compartments, and a drop leaf table - works of a master craftsman!

Bill's interest in shooting sports also never waned. He liked to hunt birds and shoot skeet. He loved the competition and the companionship at the clubs where he shot, and the opening day of Dove Season was almost a sacred holiday for him! From 1976 until 2021, he never missed shooting on the opening day of Dove Season. The special friends he regularly shot with in North Carolina were his shooting family!

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and four sisters. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, two sisters: Janet C. Green and Sheila C. McGee, and a brother, Dewitt Carriker. He is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces who were always especially centered in his heart.

A visitation and funeral service to celebrate Bill's life will be held on Saturday afternoon, February 26, 2022, at St. John's Lutheran Church, 100 St. John's Church Road, Concord. Visitation will begin at 1:00 and the funeral at 2:00.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in his memory to Hospice and Palliative Care of Cabarrus County, 5003 Hospice Lane, Kannapolis, NC 28081.