Harper, Carter Honored for
Distinguished Service
Jeanne Carter and Joe Harper were recognized
with the 2015 Distinguished Service Award at the
WVFB Annual Meeting in November.
Jeanne Carter hails from Green Bank, West
Virginia and now lives in Ohio County. Carter has
a long history of involvement with agriculture,
starting at age 9, when she joined 4-H, later
becoming an All-Star. Jeanne attended West
Virginia University, and while there met her late
husband, Harlan. She graduated magna cum
laude in 1952 with a degree in Vocational Home
Economics Education, and later went on to earn a
master’s in Counseling and Guidance.
Jeanne and her husband ran a dairy farm,
selling bulk milk to a local dairy. Later, the farm
switched to growing hay for local horse owners.
Carter worked outside the farming operation in a
variety of roles: educator (teaching grades from
seven through college); Mason County Home
Economics agent; Ohio Valley General Hospital
School of Nursing; Ohio County 4-H assistant;
Jackson’s Mill employee; 4-H camp instructor
and more.
20 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
Jeanne has been a member of West Virginia
Farm Bureau for more than 40 years. She served
on the Women’s Leadership Committee for 15
years, and for most of the last 20 years, she’s
been known as the ‘official’ song leader at WVFB
Annual Meetings.
Carter has been a pioneer in a number of
areas, both inside and outside of agriculture.
She was a regional chairman for the national
dairy industry “June Dairy Month” promotions;
helped to establish Blaker Mill as an operating
entity at Jackson’s Mill; served on the board of
trustees of the Ohio Valley Medical Center where
she was the first woman elected as Chairman
and was also the first woman to chair the WVU
College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer
Science Advisory Committee and Alumni
organization. She and her late husband were
also the