Home Industries Business Services H. Carr & Sons Inc. CEO and president dies at 73

H. Carr & Sons Inc. CEO and president dies at 73

By

James Bessette

-

07/11/2025

James Carr obit pic — JAMES L. CARR JR., CEO and president of Providence-based general contractor H. Carr & Sons Inc., died July 6 at the age of 73. / COURTESY BELLOWS FUNERAL CHAPEL

PROVIDENCE – James L. Carr Jr., who over five decades helped expand his family-owned general contracting company, H. Carr & Sons Inc., across New England and subsequently became the company’s CEO and president, died unexpectedly July 6, according to his obituary from Bellows Funeral Chapel. Carr was 73. According to the obituary, Carr, born in

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PROVIDENCE – James L. Carr Jr., who over five decades helped expand his family-owned general contracting company, H. Carr & Sons Inc., across New England and subsequently became the company’s CEO and president, died unexpectedly July 6, according to his obituary from Bellows Funeral Chapel. Carr was 73. According to the obituary, Carr, born in 1951, earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., in 1974. Afterward, he joined the family business his grandfather, Harry Carr, founded in 1930. Over the next 51 years, Carr, the obituary states, grew H. Carr & Sons from about 50 total employees to roughly 900 across the New England region. The company locally employs 450 people, per Providence Business News research. Local construction projects H. Carr & Sons worked on during Carr’s leadership included the R.I. Convention Center, Brown University, Providence Place mall and the renovation of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Within the community, Carr, the obituary says, served on various boards of directors, including with Women & Infants Hospital and on the foundation board for Brown University Health. He also co-chaired the Hasbro Children’s Hospital Golf Invitational for more than 10 years, raising more than $5 million for the hospital’s operations and programs, the obituary says. Carr also received various community awards, including the Narragansett Council Boy Scouts of America Good Scout award and the Dr. Americo W. Petrocelli Distinguished Service Award from College Crusade of Rhode Island. Carr is survived by his wife, Mary Anne Wood – the company’s vice president and chief financial officer, several children and grandchildren. Funeral and burial services are being held Friday. In lieu of flowers, Carr’s family is requesting that memorial contributions be made to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital Golf Invitational. James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.