Soil Conservationist retires after 32 years of service

by Donnie Lunsford, Public Affairs Specialist

Ernest Hemingway once said, “Retirement is the ugliest word in the [English] language.” This could not be truer for Letitia Carter, district conservationist in Del Rio, Texas, with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Carter is about to be a grandmother and she takes her new “job” so seriously that she’s decided to retire from NRCS after 32 years and move to the hill country to be with her new grandson.

Carter was raised on the family ranch in Jackson County, 20 miles from the coastal community of Port Lavaca. After college, she accepted a position with the Soil Conservation Service, now the NRCS, where she started in the Austin field office. She later moved to the Taylor field office where she stayed for 22 years so she wouldn’t have to uproot her children. In 2006, she was promoted to district conservationist in Del Rio.

Carter worked with the Devils River Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), landowners, land managers, agriculture producers, and local government to help improve the land’s natural resources. She was always there to help, no matter if a landowner had five acres or 25,000 acres.

Her new “job” located near her daughter has her being the best grandmother ever to her new grandson. She takes this role very seriously.

“I will miss everyone in Val Verde County, but I have always made my family my first priority and now that I am going to be a grandmother, I can’t wait to teach him how to tend to the chickens, feed the three dogs, and learn to garden,” Carter said. “He is going to be out in his play pen while I am pulling weeds until he can start helping in the garden.”

On December 18th, the Devils River SWCD, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and NRCS held a retirement party where she was honored for her hard work and dedicated career. Her colleagues, customers, friends, and family were able to tell their many stories full of funny situations, great memories, and what everyone gained by her 32 years of public service.

“Leticia Carter will be missed in Val Verde County with her knowledge, dedication, and great sense of humor,” said Billy Foster, director of the Devils River SWCD. “Leticia has done a lot for conservation and I know she will be a great teacher for her new grandson and any other future grandchildren. We wish her the best for her new endeavors with her family.”