Henry and Mary Jo Underhill - Seattle, WA

We are grateful for the opportunity to share and reflect upon our many warm memories of Bill Carstarphen. As I type this, I think how happy he would be about Duke's national basketball championship last night.

I first met Bill in 1965. I had just accepted an Assistant City Attorney position in the Charlotte City Attorney's office right out of UNC Law School, and Bill was an Assistant to City Manager Bill Veeder. Mary Jo and I quickly became friends with Bill and Stephanie, enjoyed backyard beer and cookouts together as well as the Charlotte Unitarian Church where we were befriended by Turley and Arlene Higgins. Because of our jobs, politics had to be definitely low key for Bill and I, but our spouses did not necessarily feel the same restrictions. In fact, the Democratic Party led all four of us to become close friends with Bill and Linda Ashendorf and Ralph and Susanne Ricketson. We socialized frequently and the Underhills, the Carstarphens and the Higgins also attended Duke- UNC football games together for several years.

When Bill became the City Manager of Greenville, NC, the Underhills and Higgins went down to Greenville for a weekend - a visit that was very much a weekend to remember. When Bill moved on to become City Manager in Spartanburg, SC the same foursome traveled from Charlotte for a similar weekend stay.

Once Bill was appointed Greensboro City Manager, our contacts were less frequent but Mary Jo and I would generally run into Bill and Agnes at the ACC Basketball Tournament in Greensboro. It was a tough time to be a Tar Heel during that period as Duke was dominant in basketball and Bill in his kind and not so subtle way made sure we were aware of that fact.

Because I was in the City Attorney's office for almost 30 years, Bill and I would frequently cross paths in NC municipal meetings and events around the state and an old friend of mine, the Greensboro City Attorney would also keep me posted on Bill's ups and downs as he dealt with the Greensboro City Council.

In 1995, I retired as City Attorney, and Mary Jo and I left Charlotte to move to Alexandria, VA when I started a second career as Executive Director of the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA), headquartered in Washington, DC. I recall Bill visited with us once when he was in DC area on business and family matters.

I also fondly remember returning to Charlotte for either an ICMA or NLC Conference and having a delightful dinner with Bill and Virginia, a woman that he had begun dating. Bill was eager for me to meet Virginia and it was clear from the outset that the two of them were quite taken with one another.

At the end of 2006, I retired from my IMLA position, and after selling our house in Virginia, we moved to western NC for several months to be close to Mary Jo's mom before we left for our permanent destination in Seattle, WA. Once Bill and Virginia found out we were back in NC, they invited Mary Jo and I as well as Bill and Linda Ashendorf for an extraordinary weekend at their fantastic mountain home outside of Waynesville. We laughed a great deal, shared many stories about our children and grandchildren and mutual friends, ate delicious food and drank good wine, and relived over 40 years of friendship. For us, it was a weekend that we will forever remember.

Bill's sudden death affected us enormously. He was without question a wonderful, devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather. Moreover, Bill was the epitome of a person who was meant to be in public service. He clearly considered his profession as a noble calling and dedicated his life to it. He was properly viewed as an outstanding city manager in all of the communities he served and rightfully so.

But most of all Bill was a genuinely good and loving person that we are proud to remember as our dear friend.

Henry and Mary Jo Underhill
Seattle, WA