Coupeville lost one of its greatest champions in recent weeks with the death of artist and organizer Treva Carter.
She died Nov. 29 at age 96.
The longtime Coupeville resident, who spent her later years living in Oak Harbor, is credited with creating the Coupeville Arts Festival which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
The fundraising event is responsible for many of the improvements Coupeville has seen over the years, including paving and renovation projects.
“I don’t know how she developed her vision for the show,” said Benye Webber, who has been a part of the festival since 1965. “But it was a great one.”
She was also an active member of the Oak Harbor First United Methodist Church, the Navy League, the Military Officers Association of America, the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Officers Wives Club, the A-3 Skywarrior Association and the Friends of the Library.
Born Treva Lois Shultz, the Indiana native made her way to the west coast to pursue her passion for art and clothing design, according to her obituary.
Carter met her husband Nick, a sailor, in San Diego while working for a French dressmaker, and post-war assignments took them all around the world. They ended up in Ebey’s Reserve in Coupeville.
In an interview earlier this year, Carter talked about how supportive her husband had been of her artwork. She received a degree in art and costume design from the University of San Diego and was well known on Whidbey as one of its most talented and prolific artists.
“Treva was, first and foremost, the ideal Navy wife, and Nick was truly her soul mate,” according to her obituary. “In a word, Treva Carter was elegant — in appearance, in heart and soul, and in spirit. And she defined the word gracious.
To all who were privileged to know her, she was a true and welcoming friend, an energetic worker for the causes in which she believed, and she was strongly anchored by her faith. Her radiant smile set the tone for any gathering and made countless friends and family members instantly welcome in her home.”
