Terry Carson was born on October 14, 1949, in Modesto, California to Fallis (“Tex”) and Vallie Marie (Wade) Carson. On Sunday, October 6, 2024, Terry suffered a heart attack. He died on Wednesday, October 9, five days before his 75th birthday.
Terry is survived by his two daughters, Monique (Ed) Schneider, and Elizabeth Carson; eight grandchildren (Hollie, James, Grace, Luke, Miles, Paul, Mary and Owen); and his last first date and partner-in-life of 20 years, Nancy Frishberg; his mother and his sister, Rhonda Erickson. He was predeceased by his father, his brothers Frank and Brian, and his wife, Nickey (Berry) Carson.
As one friend said, “He had vision, drive and generosity.” Terry (along with his business partner Cole Smith) created the first residential facilities strictly for memory care in Northern California The-Creeks.com 35 years ago. The Creeks survived the pandemic and will survive his passing. As Terry would say, one man doesn’t stop the show.
Rancho Milagro in Livermore has been his passion since 2010. 182 acres to play with. Let’s grow something that’s good to eat.
The olive orchards were planted starting in 2013, with the expansion to the east side complete by 2016, the first year we harvested our Field Blend. Those orchards are now more than 10 years old. In the 2023 harvest, the yield was 550 gallons, twice as much as 2022. The 2023 Field Blend won a Bronze ribbon at the California State Fair! As of this writing, we're in the midst of harvesting our 2024 crop which will likely be slightly less than the bumper crop of 2023.
As a first born, Terry started talking early and non-stop. You may already be familiar with some of his favorite phrases.
He used nicknames freely, addressing men as “Doctor,” women were greeted as “Hey, good looking.” Watch out if he calls you “Sport” – you’re in big trouble.
Many of his signature phrases had vivid visual or tactile images within:
Did he tell you, You’re as handy as a pocket on a shirt?
Or, of someone who’s a bit too talkative, he’d say, “their mother was vaccinated with a phonograph needle.”
Nothing was difficult, it was rough.
A friend of Elizabeth’s from childhood remembers him saying goodbye in the morning drop-off, “Today I’m going to manufacture some money.”
And those nights when he was up thinking too much, sleeping too little, well, they just felt like he was in a tree full of owls.
You thought “make it happen” started with Tim Gunn and Project Runway, but we know Terry subscribed to that adage long before reality TV broke through.
It doesn’t matter was Terry’s version of “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
If you wanted approval for taking action, he was ready with “I like the way you roll." If you were feeling a little off, he'd advise "Snap out of it."
He was quick defend you, against naysayers both real and imagined:
I don’t care what they say about you down at {insert name of workplace, school, neighborhood, or organization} – I think you’re all right!
UPDATE:
Several of you have asked if there is a favorite charity you can contribute to in Terry's memory.
Terry's donations to non-profits cluster around outdoors and childrens' health. So organizations such as Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Center for Western Folklife fit in the first category. UNICEF, Smile Train, and St Jude's Hospital fit the second category.
We’ll let you go with Terry’s habitual closing.
Take good care.