Carter Eltzroth, counsel for shipbuilder

A native of Indianapolis, he received a bachelor's degree in 1941 from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. He was a 32d degree Mason (Scottish Rite).

Before the United States joined World War II, Mr. Eltzroth enlisted in the Army as a private. He served in the Pacific theater in the Quartermaster Corps and rose to the rank of captain. He continued in the Army Reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Mr. Eltzroth graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948. He taught law in Indiana and went into private practice in Indianapolis until 1956.

A large part of his practice involved rural telephone services, which he helped convert from crank telephones and operator-assisted calls to automatic switching.

In 1950, Mr. Eltzroth married Marjorie Turk. The couple moved to Rochester, N.Y., in 1956, and he became general counsel for Stromberg Carlson, a subsidiary of General Dynamics that manufactured telephone equipment.

"He was a capable lawyer, so they decided to hire him to help them sell their equipment," said one of his sons, Carter Eltzroth III of Washington, D.C.

In 1968, Mr. Eltzroth and his wife moved to Cohasset, and he became general counsel of General Dynamics' shipbuilding division, from which he retired in 1989.

As general counsel, Mr. Eltzroth reviewed and approved contracts.

Mr. Eltzroth's son remembered when his father returned home from a contract signing one day during the 1980s. Because of the number of ships the Navy had ordered, Mr. Eltzroth said that the trillion dollar defense contract with the government he had helped craft was the largest contract ever signed, excluding real estate contracts, his son said.

His wife, Janice Palm, said Mr. Eltzroth believed in offering chances to workers regardless of their background or gender. The two had married in 1986, a year after Marjorie Eltzroth died.

"I really think that he believed in equal opportunity for individuals, which played out with and for women," said Palm, who met Mr. Eltzroth while she was completing her training as a Methodist minister at Boston University. "He never thought gender should be an issue in hiring or having a vision of what one pursues."

Mr. Eltzroth wrote extensively for professional publications, including Telephony Magazine.

"He believed that an education was the key to a good life," Palm said. "He promoted that with whomever he could."

Mr. Eltzroth and Palm moved to upstate New York in 1989, eventually settling in Troy.

During Mr. Eltzroth's retirement, his travel itineraries were guided by his love of birding, architecture, and art history.

"His interest as far as the natural sciences go was just endless," said his daughter, Abigail, of Poplar, Mont.

Mr. Eltzroth also enjoyed visiting art museums and traveling along the Connecticut River to look at Charles Bulfinch's architecture. Throughout his life, Mr. Eltzroth visited countries such as Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, England, Israel, France, and Tobago.

"He was quiet and studious, but very detail-driven," his son said.

Relatives said they will remember Mr. Eltzroth's passion for being a mentor to everyone he knew.

"He was supportive of people and their careers," his daughter said. "He was a good conversationalist."

In addition to his daughter Abigail, his son Carter, and his wife of 22 years, Mr. Eltzroth leaves another son, Kevin of Rochester, N.Y.; a sister, Katherine Hamel of Alexandria, Va.; two brothers, Elbert and Edward of Indianapolis; and four grandchildren.

Services have been held.