Robert Emerson Carter, centenarian, passed peacefully in his sleep on April 7, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland.  He wrung every bit of life out of his 100 years and enjoyed sharing his many stories with all who had the good fortune to hear.  Bob was born February 3, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was raised on the Eastern Shore in Berlin, Maryland.   After graduating from Washington College (Chestertown, MD) in 1942 and beginning graduate school in physics at Purdue University, he was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he worked in the laboratory with Enrico Fermi and others.  He resumed graduate study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the end of the war.  He returned to Los Alamos with his master’s degree and with the love of his life, his wife Dorothy Williams Carter, also a physicist, and the first of their 11 children.  Bob, Dottie and their first nine children remained in Los Alamos until moving to Bethesda in 1963. Two more sons were born in Bethesda. Bob remained committed to his profession as a physicist until his retirement from employment in 2000 and from professional volunteer activities in 2019.  Throughout his life he was an outdoorsman, physicist, teacher, thinker, humanist and loving support for his entire family. He was a remarkable man.

Bob was pre-deceased by his wife of 53 years, son-in-law John Leibman and great-granddaughter Sophie Bayly.  He is survived by his eleven children, Patricia Leibman, Thomas Carter (Flora), Jean Carter (Dean Goeldner), Donald Carter (Beth LaCour), Frances Nelson (Don), Susan Carter, Christopher Carter (Mary Ann), Nancy Galyon (Nick), Michael Carter (Elizabeth), William Carter (Heather) and Jeffrey Carter (Renee), as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.    The closeness of the entire family was reflected in the many family and friends who gathered for a 100th birthday celebration in February 2020. 

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Atomic Heritage Foundation (www.atomicheritage.org) or Washington College (www.washcoll.edu).