Carmen Moncla Hiott

Carmen, or “Titter” as she was known as a child, cherished growing up on the family farm even though there was always work to be done. She graduated from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette in 1950 when it was SLI and earned her Medical Technology certification from Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. It was in New Orleans that she met a young seminarian, John Blanton Hiott, whom she married in 1953 and with whom she built a life of service and ministry. She and John lived in Niagara Falls, NY, Memphis, TN, and Byhalia, MS. In 1959, they moved to NC where they stayed for the rest of their lives, living in Boiling Springs, Wagram, and Raleigh. Along the way they had five children. Carmen always said that having and raising children was her greatest education.

Participating in church music programs became important in Carmen’s life when she was a college student and this passion never left her. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, Raleigh choir for 32 years and was the founder and coordinator of four city-wide interracial and interdenominational Choir Festivals in the early 1980s which helped fund the restoration of Estey Hall on the campus of Shaw University

She worked as a medical technologist and teacher until she began to focus on community development and church work, volunteering at the NC Museum of Natural History, with the Wake County Democratic Party, and supporting organizations such as Baptist Women, Japanese-American Cultural Exchange, Meredith College, Estey Hall Foundation, DAR, Anne Hathaway Book Club, Huguenot Society, Lawton and Allied Families Association, and Rev. Pierre Robert Family Association.

She lived with Spirit-filled enthusiasm for righting what is wrong in our world, sometimes writing under her pen name Henri Eldred. She did everything with gusto and a full measure of commitment. Where there was a need, she served. She sowed seeds of the Kingdom of God, then quietly assisted and encouraged others to “rise to the challenge” until the project gained momentum and no longer could be stopped. Her life was a testimony, a living sermon, that in the finite amount of time we spend on earth, one person can make a difference. Her family rejoices at having had the opportunity to share in her life.

Those left to cherish her memory are her children: John Hiott, Jr. (Joannie) of Louisburg, NC, Gray Hiott of Wagram, NC, Marie McEntire (Mark) of Hendersonville, NC, Blake Hiott of Raleigh, and Ann Barham (Charlie) of Winston-Salem, NC; her grandchildren: Atticus McEntire, Claire McEntire Minneman (Jeff), Lily Hiott Shelton (Tyler), Eli Hiott, and Emma Hiott; her siblings: Gloria Revere of Southern Pines, NC, Carol Campbell of Moncla, LA, and Alfred Moncla, Jr. of Elizabeth City, NC; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; brother, EE “Buddy” Moncla; brothers-in-law, Pat Revere and Max Campbell; and sisters-in-law, Beryl Moncla and Kay Moncla.

Celebrations of her life are scheduled for July 25, 2026, at the family home in Moncla, Louisiana and at the Hiott family plot in Pickens, SC in October.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603, www.fbcraleigh.org; to Meredith College for student financial aid, 3800 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC, www.meredith.edu; or to the Resident Assistance Fund at Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community, 1240 Arbor Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104, www.arboracres.org.