Plains, Ga. – Former first lady Rosalyn Carter will be honored by her loved ones and laid to rest Wednesday in her longtime home of Plains, Georgia.
Rosalyn Carter is honored at a service at Maranatha Baptist Church. Jimmy Carter and former first ladies have worshiped there. She will be confined to the Carter family home on the Plains.
Amber Rosner, a professor at the University of Tennessee who has written extensively about the Carters, previously told USA TODAY, “I don’t think you can stress enough the importance of the Plains.”
“In addition to being home, it was a nurturing and regenerative place for them, where they could find themselves at these key moments in their lives,” Rosner said.
The funeral comes a day after a memorial service for Carter in Atlanta attended by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary Hillary Clinton, and other former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania. Trump.
Country:Plains, Georgia Remembers Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter: ‘Steel Magnolia’
Mourners begin arriving on the plains
Country town of Plains, Ga., pop. 600 was crowded early Wednesday morning with law enforcement, volunteers and news reporters ahead of former first lady Rosalyn Carter’s funeral and burial service.
Traffic cones and metal barriers lined downtown Plains and the streets leading to Maranatha Baptist Church, where a service for family and friends is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
Mourners began arriving at the church around 8:30 a.m. They were picked up by chartered buses from the Plains Welcome Center.
Major roads in the farming town will be closed ahead of the service and final farewell on Main Street, where people will be seen following Rosalyn Carter’s motorcade from the chapel to the Carter Home and Gardens, part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park.
Rosalyn Carter will be laid to rest outside the modest ranch house she shared with Jimmy Carter in 1961.
The Carters have been members of the church since they returned to Plains in 1981 after leaving the White House. Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school classes drew visitors from all over the country, and Deacon Rosalyn Carter, who taught Sunday school, helped start the church. A food drive, it now feeds hundreds of families every month. The former first lady participated in charity events in her 90s.
‘What a remarkable woman she is’
At Tuesday’s service, family, friends and colleagues of Rosalyn Carter honored her decades of dedication to global humanitarian work. They celebrated her fight for mental health care and women’s rights around the world. Loved ones of the former first lady highlighted her work through The Carter Center as she advocated for peace efforts, health programs and more.
Kathryn Gate, a longtime aide and friend of Rosalyn Carter, told the audience at the memorial “what a remarkable woman she was: wife, mother, business manager, political strategist, diplomat, lawyer, author. However, what I remember most about her is her tireless commitment to caring for others.
Speakers also shared personal memories of the former first lady. Jason Carter, the Carters’ grandson, He told the audience at the service that his family reflected on their recent flight together.
When they got on the plane, Jason Carter said, “My grandma pulled out this Tupperware of pimento cheese and this bread, and she started making sandwiches.”
“She gave it to all of our grandchildren and then started giving it to others on the plane,” Carter added. “Rosalyn Carter made me a sandwich, you know?” They couldn’t believe it, but she loved people.
‘It’s hard to know them’
In the Plains on Tuesday, residents and guests prepared to welcome the former first lady, philanthropist and activist to her home.
Inside the auditorium at Plains High School, where Rosalyn Carter graduated as valedictorian in 1944, about a dozen people — mostly National Park Service employees — watched the former first lady’s memorial service. After each speaker, they applauded with the crowd in Atlanta.
Joan and Dave watched a tribute to Rosalyn Carter at Vogt Auditorium on Tuesday. They stopped in the Carters’ hometown on their way from Illinois to Sarasota, Florida for a family vacation. Joan Vogt spoke about being in the former first lady’s high school and watching the memorial service. He met Rosalyn Carter once on the campus of Goshen College, a liberal arts college in Indiana. At the time, Rosalyn Carter was campaigning for her husband, who was running for president.
In another part of the Plains, Ramona Kurland explained that she had known the former first lady and former president for about 30 years through the political memorabilia store she owns with her husband in the Georgia town. While greeting customers, Rosalyn watched a live broadcast of Carter’s memorial service on her phone. He pointed to each member of the Carter family as they appeared on screen. After James “Chip” Carter’s speech, she wiped her cheek. “It’s hard when you know them,” he said.
