PENNSYLVANIA, Dec. 21 – Hazel Benton Carter, 103, of Harrisburg, PA, formerly of Virginia, peacefully transitioned into eternal life at Loyalton of Harrisburg, on Tuesday, December 14, 2010.

She was born in Portsmouth, the daughter of John L. and Maggie (Dean) Benton, a graduate of Virginia State College with a BS in Elementary Education and a retired school teacher from the Cumberland County School System.

Ms. Carter was a member of Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Steelton, PA, where she served as a Deaconess and with the Missionary Circle, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Prospect, where she was a Deaconess, with the Mis-sionary Society, on the choir, as a Sunday School teacher and superintendent and a teacher and director of the Vacation Bible School.

In the community, she was a member of the Martha E. Forrester Council of Women and the Retired Teachers Associa-tion and in her leisure was an avid reader and enjoyed crocheting.

She was the widow of George Andrew Carter and leaves to celebrate her life, her daughter and son-in-law, Aundre Car-ter Pearce and Johnny Pearce of Harrisburg; grandson and his wife, Stephen and Toa Pearce of Johannesburg, South Af-rica; granddaughter and her husband, Sonja and Bryant Robinson of Lansdowne; four great-grandchildren; sister and brothers-in-law, Florean Lawrence, Christine Hendricks and Jacqueline and Leeman Allen, all of Virginia; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Her life was celebrated on Sunday, December 19, with a memorial tribute in the Chapel of Major H. Winfield Funeral Home in Steelton, PA. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, December 21, at Calvary Baptist Church in Prospect, and interment was next to her husband in Sulphur Spring Baptist Church Cemetery.

The E.B. Allen Funeral Home, Farmville, was in charge of the service.