Friends describe Carter Nash as clear in his convictions, honest in his speech, and willing to act when something was not right. He was a member of Harrisburg Monthly Meeting for 25 years, served on committees within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, and the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.
A Friend recently shared the following on their work with Carter: “Carter served as the granting committee liaison to the Willits Book Trust and as a member of that granting group, I had the pleasure of being on several phone calls with him. Carter listened deeply and understood very clearly what we were trying to accomplish with Willits and during those few phone calls I think all of us felt as though he had been with us from the beginning. It had a lot to do with his intrinsic sense of alignment with our mission, but it also stemmed from his gentle way of entering an existing Quaker community – creating barely a wave but through his very presence, deepening our sense of purpose and joy.”
Friends Journal also recently shared a video where Carter spoke with QuakerSpeak about “walking a path of love.”
Harrisburg Friends invite all to gather for worship celebrating the life of Carter on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11 am at Harrisburg Friends Meeting, with the option to join by Zoom. Following worship, Friends will share lunch and fellowship around 12:30 pm in the lower level social area of the meetinghouse, with gluten-free and vegan options available. Connect with Harrisburg Friends Meeting for more information.
Carter Nash died on January 6, 2026, after a 13-year battle with stage 4 prostate cancer. He accepted hospice support for a few days before his death. He leaves Allen Olsen, his partner of 20 years.
He had been a member of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Monthly Meeting for 25 years and has also served in committees of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the regional Quaker group that covers eastern Pennsylvania and served on the national Quaker organization, Friends General Conference. He represented Quakers in the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. In addition to his many spirit led messages during worship, he got Zoom going to continue worship during the Covid epidemic,
He was born February 26, 1954, in Huntington, West Virginia. He pointed out that this was the year that Brown v Board of Education was decided. He had several siblings who did not survive infancy. He was named after Carter Avenue in Ashland, Kentucky where his extended family lived in a segregated area. His father was a Navy cryptographer, and his mother was a very assertive matriarch of an extended family. When the Supreme Court announced Brown, she went to the local school board and demanded that they desegregate. It served as an example for her children as well. He had several experiences as a young man where he found that he was hired as a token with no intention to have him do anything but be on display. In a department store that never hired black people he was hired with no intention of having him work. He said to the manager, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to quit.” “Why?” “Because it’s just as wrong for you to hire me because I am black as it would be for you to not hire me for that reason.”
His Facebook page had a message after his death from Martha Nash that said, “Carter, we had a long and complicated relationship, but I loved you. Be at peace with Mom, Granny, Great-Granny, and Roi. They prepared the way, with love, for you.”
He was incarcerated for several years in federal prison in Texarkana, Texas where he tutored, scheduled GED tests, and was the librarian. He was an avid reader and persuaded publishers to contribute new books. Some of those books are now in the Harrisburg Quaker Meeting’s library. He previously worked at Bethesda Mission and Downtown Daily Bread in Harrisburg.
He was fond of the Quaker saying, “There is that of God in everyone.” He preferred translating that to “there is that of love in everyone.” He said, “We are God’s hands. We may not all speak the same language. We may not all believe in God the same way. We may not all even believe in God. Although I find it interesting that a lot of people who don’t believe in God, act as if they do.”
