A 99-year-old woman who became a reserve police officer when she was 67 years old and graduated from college when she was 78 will throw the honorary first pitch at Monday evening’s Los Angeles Dodgers game.
Winifred Carter was born in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts on April 13, 1919, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, according to her memoir, “The Decades of a Blessed Life,” completed when she was 92.
Carter’s father Alexander Mattis died on Dec. 24, 1923, when she was 4 years old. With its church, The Christian Brothers Fellowship, providing support, Carter and her family moved to New York City, where financial assistance became available.
Carter’s mother Lucy died from pneumonia six months after the family moved to New York City, forcing Carter and six of her seven siblings to live in foster homes. The oldest, 16-year-old Norman, lived on his own.
Carter worked as a clerk-typist in the Pentagon during World War II and was later a civilian secretary at military installations in Hawaii and South Korea. She worked 10 years for United Airlines, retiring in 1981 at age 62.
Carter became the oldest graduate of the Long Beach Police Academy in 1986 when she was 67, and spent five years with the Long Beach Police Department as a reserve officer, mostly escorting female suspects from the jail to the courthouse for arraignment.
Carter enrolled at California State University, Dominguez Hills when she was 71, graduating with a degree in English when she was 78.
Carter returned to the LBPD in 1996 when the department began the Senior Police Partner program, which involves seniors helping seniors who are victims of crime or abuse or need referrals to agencies that can help them maintain quality lifestyles.
In recent years, Carter has volunteered with Meals on Wheels and as a receptionist at St. Mary Medical Center.
Carter’s first pitch before the game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium comes in connection with Long Beach Night. A special event ticket pack, which includes a Dodgers/Long Beach T-shirt, is available at Dodgers.com/LongBeach.