A Celebration of Life

IN MEMORIAM: REVEREND AUGUSTINE CARTER, O. CARM. Crespi’s Founding Principal

Throughout life, many are called unto by God to take on the challenge of the priesthood. Such was the case of Crespi’s founding principal, Fr. Augustine (Gus) Carter, O. Carm. Born Walter Peter Carter, he attended Holy Cross Grade School and Mount Carmel High School in Los Angeles. At Mount Carmel, Walter was elected Student Body President and excelled in academics and athletics.

After graduating from Mount Carmel in 1942, Carter matriculated to Loyola University, joined the U.S. Navy V-12 Program, and was selected to enter the University of Oregon School of Medicine. He was discharged from the Navy in 1947, entered the Carmelite novitiate, and professed simple vows that same year, taking the religious name of Augustine. When once asked about his vocational journey, Fr. Gus reflected, “I thought God was calling me. I wasn’t all that sure, but I said ‘well, I’ll see what happens’. I still thank God for my vocation; I’m never sorry.”

He studied philosophy at Whitefriars College in Auburn, New York, and theology at the Collegio Internazionale di Sant’ Alberto in Rome, Italy. While in Rome, he made his solemn profession with the Carmelites and was ordained a Carmelite priest in 1951. He continued his studies at Loyola University earning an M.A. in Philosophy, and at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley earning an S.T.M. in Spirituality.

Fr. Augustine’s first assignment was in 1952 as a teacher and athletic director back at his alma mater, Mount Carmel. Seven years later, in an effort by the Carmelites to attract students from the San Fernando Valley, Fr. Gus was assigned as the founding principal of the Order’s newest school, Crespi Carmelite in Encino. Fr. “Gus”, as his students affectionately called him, oversaw the admission of the first 120 students in 1959 and the construction of the first school building, which remains today.

Fr. Gus returned to Mount Carmel in 1966, serving as

“I thought God was calling me. I wasn’t all that sure, but I said ‘well, I’ll see what happens’. I still thank God for my vocation; I’m never sorry.”

principal and a teacher. Over the next forty years, he embodied the Carmelite charisms of community, service, and prayer as a spiritual director at various Catholic organizations, and ministering to the parishioners of Incarnation Parish in Glendale. In 2014, he moved to Villa Scalabrini in Sun Valley until God called him on January 4, 2022.

Since Fr. Gus Carter molded the first generation of Celts in 1959, the school has continued his dedication to excellence. We thank him for his legacy. .