Wilbur Gene Carlton, 89, of Winnemucca, Nev., died March 16, 2021, at Harmony Manor Nursing Home.Wilbur Gene Carlton, 89, of Winnemucca, Nev., died March 16, 2021, at Harmony Manor Nursing Home.
He was born Aug. 1, 1931, in Norris, a son of Ellis Costello Carlton and Wilda Wendolyn Vance Carlton. He first married Beverly Ann McKinney. In January, 1982, he married his second wife, Sibyl Karen Butcher. They both survive.
Also surviving are two daughters, Julie Marie Pickel and Lynn Ann Carlton; two granddaughters, Jessica (and Jose) Rivera and Kira (and Russell) Owen; two great-grandchildren; and 14 nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by one daughter, Vicki Lynn Carlton; one infant brother, Gary Ralph Carlton; and twin siblings, Ellis Dale Carlton and Alice Ione (Carlton) Forrest.
He graduated from Canton High School in 1949. He then received his bachelors degree in August, 1954, from Illinois State Normal Teachers College, now Illinois State University of Normal. He received his masters degree in Music Education in May of 1964 from Western Illinois University in Macomb.
His first music teaching position was with the Elementary and High School Districts in Cornell. After four years with the Cornell School District, he took a position with Astoria School District in Astoria, where he remained for 18 years. In 1975, he accepted a teaching position with Lander County School District in Battle Mountain, Nev. He accepted an elementary school music position with Humboldt County School District in 1980 and in Winnemucca, Nev., he finished his teaching career at Sonoma Heights Elementary School in 1996.
In retirement, he spent the next 16 years as a full-time volunteer assisting Sibyl with her high school library position at Lowry High School until her retirement in 2011.
He organized the first Tri-county Northern Nevada Massed Band Festival in Battle Mountain, performing first during the school year of 1977. This was based on the Fulton County, Ill., annual massed band festivals held at Canton High School that he had attended four years as a student at CHS and later 18 years as band director of Astoria High School of the same county. All band students from Pershing County, Humboldt County and Lander County schools participated under the direction of a guest conductor. Later, following his move to Positions, Calif., early 1980s, he was the guest director for the festival when it was held in Winnemucca. Additional music participation included singing in the Winnemucca Civic Chorus, the Swinging Seniors and Methodist Church choir.
Services will not be held due to the coronavirus pandemic. Burial will be in White Chapel Cemetery in Canton. Sonoma Funeral Home in Winnemucca is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association or United Methodist Church of Astoria or Winnemucca, Nev.
Condolences may be sent to https://www.fhwsolutions.com/obituaries/sonoma-funeral-home/wilbur-gene-carlton-obituary.
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