AWO reported the passing of Braxton B. Carr, former AWO President, on December 23 in Emmitsburg, Maryland, at the age of 92. Mr. Carr was AWO’s longest serving president, filling the position for 15 years. His career with AWO spanned 18 years. Under his leadership, AWO was transformed into a truly national trade association. In 1969, Mr. Carr extended AWO’s representation to the coastal sector of the industry, complementing the companies it already represented in the inland trade.
Mr. Carr was born in 1911 in Enterprise, Alabama. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and began his career at AWO in February 1956, when he joined the association as Assistant to the President. He was subsequently elected as AWO’s President by the Board of Directors on June 4, 1957, and served as the second president of AWO until 1972. In 1973, Mr. Carr assumed the role of Chairman of the Executive Committee and retired from AWO later that year.
Prior to joining AWO, Mr. Carr served from 1953-1956 as the Executive Vice President of the Warrior-Tombigbee Development Association, which is now known as the Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association. Mr. Carr is survived by his wife Jordan McMurry Carr; two daughters, Rebecca Carr and Rena Carr Daly and husband Kevin, all of Thurmont, Maryland; one son, Braxton B. Carr, Jr. and wife Linda of Aiken, S.C.; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. AWO will always remember Braxton as both a very effective leader of and a true friend to the industry.
(Source: AWO Letter, January 9, 2004)