PARIS, Tenn. A Henry County High School student and youth fishing competitor, Carter Allison, has died following a car accident on July 6, and tributes have flooded in from teachers, coaches, teammates, and family friends across the community.
Allison was well known around Paris and Henry County, not just as a student but as an athlete, an outdoorsman, and, by all accounts, a young man who made a lasting impression on nearly everyone he met.
Remembered in the classroom
Chewy Jackson, who teaches welding at Henry County High School, said Allison was one of those students who kept every class period interesting. According to Jackson, Allison and his friends brought a rotating cast of hobbies into the classroom, from cleaning deer to preparing ducks to the bream he regularly caught and shared with classmates.
- He was described as a student everyone loved
- Friends recalled breakfasts together before he headed out to fish
- He had played Little League Baseball and later worked as a youth umpire
A life built around sports and the outdoors
Community members from Henry County Fall Baseball remembered coaching Allison in basketball years earlier and said he later returned to local baseball as a spring umpire. He was also active with a regional student fishing organization, whose members reportedly called him a strong angler and a good friend to his teammates.
Family friend Chris Mooney wrote that Allison carried himself with a maturity beyond his years and could hold his own in conversation with adults twice his age during fishing trips. Mooney also credited Allison with once saving his younger brother from drowning, an act he said said everything about who Allison was.
Those who knew him say his impact on the community was immediate and wide-reaching, extending well beyond his own age group.
Community rallying around the family
As word of the loss spread, neighbors and friends began organizing ways to support Allison’s parents, Katelynne and Jake, along with his siblings.
- A local fundraiser is selling stickers for four dollars each, with all proceeds going to the family
- Buyers can choose between two designs, one featuring a fishing rod and fish, and another featuring a truck
- Orders can be placed by messaging the organizer directly, with payment accepted through Venmo
Local pastors and community members have also shared messages of comfort online, encouraging families across the county to hold their own children a little closer in the wake of the news.
Funeral arrangements had not been publicly announced as of this writing. The Henry County community has asked that the Allison family be kept in prayer during the days ahead.
