Elementary school teacher (retired); stay-at-home mother; grandmother
“My sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Bridgers, told me I was conscientious, and I’ve been inspired by her comment my whole life.”
Conscientious comes from the Latin conscientia, a sense of right or moral sense. For Patricia Rose Carlton, the pursuit of doing what is right, of holding oneself and others to high standards and carrying out one’s duties with aplomb, has been the through line of her journey both personally and professionally. It was also a virtue instilled in Carlton from her earliest years.
“I stand on the shoulders of my mother and daddy, Louise and Melvin Rose,” she said. “Their values have been my road map.”
Born in Hot Springs and raised in North Little Rock, Carlton attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville until the middle of her junior year, when she married her husband, Bill, and transferred to Baylor University in Texas. Though a career in veterinary medicine initially interested her, Carlton was kept from going that direction by the discipline that has long posed obstacles to many an animal lover thinking of a similar path — chemistry. She graduated in 1971 with her bachelor’s degree in English and elementary education, and she worked as an elementary school teacher until the birth of her and Bill’s first child.
Now residing in Little Rock, volunteering and service to her community have long been cornerstones of Carlton’s life. She has dedicated herself to a number of worthy causes big and small throughout the years, from the Junior League of North Little Rock to her own children’s parent-teacher associations. In 2017, Carlton was honored as Champion of the Year by Alzheimer’s Arkansas, and the same year saw both her and Bill named Baylor University Alumni of the Year.
Particularly close to Carlton’s heart are organizations such as Easterseals Arkansas and Baptist Health — especially the school of nursing at Baptist Health College in Little Rock, she said, for its assistance to families navigating the special needs and health issues of their loved ones.
Carlton’s latest interest, meanwhile, has seen her turn an eye toward the performing arts thanks, in part, to a special family connection.
“My new interest is Stage 13 [in Little Rock], a nonprofit organization focused on professional training, theater and comprehensive arts education,” Carlton said. “My grandson, Collin, has benefited from this group significantly. He is now at Oklahoma City University, studying theater.”
Even in the face of tragedy and grief, Carlton has turned her pain into a conduit through which to help others. The hardest time in her life, she said, was the untimely passing of her son, John, after he struggled with bipolar disorder and alcoholism.
“Through God’s grace and Christian counseling, I have become a safe place for other women who are experiencing this kind of grief,” she said.
Indeed, Carlton’s faith is an anchor in her life and a platform from which she can encourage and support those around her. The experience that has had far and away the biggest influence on her worldview, she said, was her “surrender to Jesus Christ,” and she considers her service in church to be among her most impactful contributions.
“Some of the most important and meaningful work I have done during my life is to be a discussion leader in women’s Bible studies,” she said.
Carlton has continued to lean on that source of strength following the death of her husband. Taking inspiration from the Dutch Catholic priest, psychologist and influential spiritual thinker and writer Henri Nouwen, Carlton said she has taken hope in Nouwen’s encouragement, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
