GH business owner dies

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

Gig Harbor suffered an unexpected loss of a well-known and well-loved business owner last Thursday.

Bill Carter, owner of Sounds Great on Judson Street, died of pancreatic cancer.

Carter was diagnosed with the disease just three weeks ago. His daughter, Dina Carter, said he began to feel sick while working at his record store and was taken to the hospital. The doctors found tumors in both his pancreas and liver that could not be treated.

Carter spent the last four days at home with his family — including his wife, Carmela, his son, Billy, and Dina and her daughter, Francesca — before his death. He was 65.

Sounds Great has been closed since Carter became ill a few weeks ago.

Dina, who worked in the store when she was a teenager, has seen an outpouring of support from the community. She said people have left flowers, cards and gifts on the steps of the Judson Street building, where the store has been located for the past 17 years.

“He was so shy and modest about it,” Dina said about how much the community cared for her father. “I don’t think he realized it.”

Barb Harder, owner of Birdnest Gallery & Framing, first met Carter when his wife, Carmela, was on the board of the now-defunct Peninsula Neighborhood Association. Harder remembers both Carter and Carmela as being dedicated to preserving the community through organizations like the PNA.

“He was just an all-around great guy,” Harder said. “He was really easy-going, really easy to talk to.”

The store on Judson Street will remain closed until mid-May. It will re-open for just two months before going out of business permanently. Dina said Carter had been thinking about closing the store for a year due to declining sales.

In the coming months, volunteers and friends of the Carter family will staff the store. Sounds Great will hold a closing sale and party to celebrate Carter’s life before finally shutting its doors, but the details of the celebration have not been finalized.

Both Carter and his business had become memorable facets of Gig Harbor. Years ago, when Dina was working at Sounds Great — she ran the store on the days her father had off — she would regularly meet customers who sang her father’s praises.

“People would come in and just talk to me about my dad, and how cool he was, and how he told them about a band or a show he went to,” she said. “People loved him, so they always wanted to tell me how much they enjoyed shopping there and talking (to him) about life.”

A celebration of Carter’s life

Bill Carter’s family will host a celebration of his life at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Fox Island Yacht Club, 1061 12th Ave. on Fox Island.

Friends, family and members of the community are welcome to attend.

Those interested in honoring Carter’s memory can make a donation to the Dalai Lama Foundation.