Clayton Robert Carter

Clayton Robert Carter died peacefully on August 14, 2026, following a life marked by family, service, and a distinguished career that took him around the world. He was 87.

Clayton was born November 14, 1938, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Mary (Wilson) and Jack Carter. His early childhood included several memorable years in the St. Croix State Park, where his father worked. At that time, there was an unnamed lake in the park system which Jack decided to officially name Lake Clayton after his son. It is located in east-central Minnesota, near the Wisconsin border.

The Carter family later settled in Arpin, Wisconsin, where Jack purchased a hardware store and renamed it Carter Hardware & Implement. Clayton attended Arpin Grade School and graduated from Auburndale High School in 1956.

During the era of the military draft, Clayton joined the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1957 to 1959 as an aircraft and engine mechanic working on bombers. His service took him to bases in Texas, Florida and Indiana before he returned to Wisconsin and worked in the family hardware business.

Clayton married Barbara Bandt on January 6, 1962. On May 22, 1962, they welcomed their first son, Anthony. On July 13, 1963, their second son, Tim was born.

In 1961, Clayton began what would become an extraordinary 37-year career with Graco Inc., the Minneapolis-based manufacturing company where his father had also worked. He started on the factory assembly line at a time when Graco had annual sales of approximately $5 million and just a fraction of the workforce it would have decades later.

Clayton steadily advanced through the company, building a career that touched nearly every aspect of its operations. In 1966, he and his family moved to California when he accepted a district manager position, later becoming a regional manager. His desire to work internationally eventually led him to oversee business development in Europe and Japan, and his career took him throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Over the course of his life, he visited more than 38 countries.

Clayton and his family returned to Minnesota in 1977, settling in Minnetonka. His leadership responsibilities at Graco continued to grow, and in 1994 he was named vice president of the company's Lubrication Division. In 1997, he became vice president of the Industrial Products Division, the company's largest division at the time.

By the time Clayton retired in 1999, Graco had grown from the relatively small company he joined decades earlier into an international enterprise with thousands of employees and approximately $400 million in annual sales.

In 1994, Clayton and Barbara built a home at Sea Trail in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, where they retired full time in 1999.

Clayton is preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Carter; his parents, Jack and Mary Carter; his sister, Sally Sparages; and his daughter-in-law, Molly Carter. He is survived by his sons Anthony (Andrea) and Tim; grandson Trevor Carter; granddaughters Shannah, Alexa, and Halle Carter, and Whitney (Aaron) Simon, and great-grandchildren, Gaige, Brylee, William and Owen Simon.

A Memorial Gathering for Clayton will be held from 3:00-6:00 p.m. with speakers beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake, MN 55372. Clayton cherished the family’s many animal companions and rescued several cats in recent years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Clayton’s name to the Humane Society serving Carver/Scott Counties at https://www.carverscotths.org/donate.