Carter Flynt Emmons

Carter Flynt Emmons, 29, lost a long battle with depression and mental illness on April 28, 2022. We are heartbroken beyond measure that we will no longer be able to spend time with him, but also thankful in equal measure for the time we had. He was a kind, gentle and tender soul. He was atypical and struggled mightily for us to be typical. His struggles are over.

He was born at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas ,on August 19, 1992. He grew up in Preston Hollow and attended the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD) until moving with his family to Dubai. While in Dubai, he attended the American School of Dubai (ASD) for 9th, 10th and 11th grade. He returned to ESD for his Senior year. He attended Camp Longhorn for many years, and especially enjoyed his last year as a Ranger. He traveled around the world with his Mom, Dad and his younger sister, Sara Jane. Still, he loved Dallas and wanted to study at SMU, where he earned a degree in Philosophy. After graduation, he worked as a quality assurance team leader for a software company in Dallas.

As a small child, Carter’s favorite color was green. He insisted on green costumes for Halloween – dinosaur, turtle and frog. We will wear something green to remember him at the upcoming service celebrating his life. He loved reading Harry Potter with his Mom and Dad and his grandmothers. He was captivated by Star Wars and its story of good versus evil with heroic characters and cool space vehicles. He was passionate about football, especially the Texas Longhorns (because of his Mom and Dad and their close group of UT friends that were there when Carter was born and have helped parent him since then), the Dallas Cowboys, Madden and throwing the football around in the front yard. He attended his first UT football game well before he was one year old. Smokey kind of scared him. He adored animals, especially the menagerie of dogs and cats that his family collected, even Friskie, the 25 pound cat Sara Jane adopted. His favorite place to be was the beach—any beach. He visited beaches in Florida, Alabama, Hawaii, the Caymans, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, the Bahamas and even Mozambique. The water, waves, smells and sounds had such a wonderful effect on him. He also enjoyed scuba diving, snow-skiing and baseball. Other loves include the History Channel, Mexican food, gumbo, good wine and Heath Bar ice cream cake.

But Carter’s greatest love was his family. His middle name was handed down from his paternal grandfather, to whom he tried in vain to teach computer technology. He spent many summer weeks at “Camp Conroe” with both sets of grandparents and relished his trips to Meridian, Mississippi ,to visit with great aunts and uncles and first and second cousins. We know how much he loved his parents and sister. He cried tears of joy when Sara Jane was admitted to NYU. We will miss him saying “Bye Mom, bye Dad, Love you”, every time he left us.

We are proud of Carter. Most importantly, deep down, where it really counted, he was a good person. He always wanted to do the right thing. He was kind and tender, but also courageous. Even with his challenges, he was able to move to a foreign country with us and start high school there – life is challenging enough for a 15 year old, but he pushed through it. We treasure that time overseas because of how close it made us as a family. The four of us, plus Josie Ahano, his second mother, spent a lot of time together, as expats do.

He is survived by his mother and father, Melinda Markey Emmons and David Lockwood Emmons of Dallas, Texas, and his sister, Sara Jane Woodson Emmons, of Brooklyn, New York; paternal grandparents, Flynt and Janet Emmons of Conroe, Texas, his aunt and godmother, Anna Louise Emmons of Spring, Texas, aunts Michele Markey of Medina, Texas, and Meredith Markey Sapp and her husband Michael Sapp of Denton, Texas, uncles Daniel Fountain Emmons and his wife Jackie Murray Emmons of Conroe, Texas, Dean Flynt Emmons and his husband Rodney Morris of Portland, Oregon, and Chris Markey and his wife Leslie Russell Markey of Austin, Texas, and his first cousins, Marissa (Scott) Stovall, Danielle Solt (Shane), Justin Emmons, Cullen Brown, and Connor Brown.

We want to thank the many people who were so kind to Carter and us over the years. We cannot name them all. But, in particular we want to thank Josie Ahano, the ESD Class of 2011, and the parents, teachers and faculty at ESD, the ASD community, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Camp Longhorn, his teachers at SMU and, of course, our long-time UT friends and our neighbors for life on Desco Drive.

A service celebrating our time with Carter will be held on Friday, May 6, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, Texas. We look forward to seeing friends and family there to share happier times and we encourage you to wear something green in Carter’s honor. A reception in the Garden Cloister will immediately follow the service.

We ask that you consider making a donation to the Grant Halliburton Foundation or the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas in lieu of flowers.