ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996                  TAG: 9603040052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER

FORMER BUCHANAN MAYOR DIES

J. Stull Carson, former mayor of Buchanan, died Saturday. He was 64.

After serving the town for 10 years, Carson resigned during his fifth term as mayor because of health problems. He took a hands-on approach to his job, often pitching in to help town employees.

He once helped an employee and good friend repair broken water lines until 1 in the morning.

"I didn't see it as helping the town as much as helping out a friend," Carson said in a 1990 interview with The Roanoke Times and World-News.

Leaving office was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," he said after his resignation. "I don't feel a bit guilty about leaving, though. I think it's someone else's turn to serve."

Carson usually spent four hours a day tending to the business of the small Botetourt County town. Sometimes his work followed him home.

"We were having dinner [one] night when some people dropped by to complain about a zoning problem. You never get away from it," he said.

Carson said he ran for mayor because he was interested in what happened to the town. He didn't have much patience for people who griped about the town's problems but did nothing about them.

"If they want to stick their nose in someone else's business, they ought to be willing to run for council and get their feet wet."

Carson also served his community away from the political arena. He was a charter and life member of the Buchanan Volunteer Rescue Squad for 43 years.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Barger Carson, and two sons, John Stull Carson Jr. of Buchanan and David Aiken Carson of Denver.

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