The week-long state funeral services honoring former President Jimmy Carter, who died at 100 last week, began Saturday morning. The ceremonies will honor Carter’s journey from his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to his esteemed role on the global humanitarian stage and as the 39th American president.
On Saturday morning, individuals gathered in downtown Plains to place flowers at the base of Carter’s monument. The tribute also featured Habitat for Humanity hardhats adorned with handwritten messages, including one that read, “God bless you, Mr. President,” USA Today first reported.
Carter was the oldest living president, and President Biden has now taken that mantle at the age of 82 years, 2 months.
Carter’s specific cause of death on Dec. 29 was unclear. Carter’s death followed the passing of his wife Rosalynn on Nov. 19, 2023. She died at the age of 96 with her family by her side at the Carter home in Plains, just days after she had been admitted to hospice care.
Carter’s motorcade arrived at the Carter Center in Atlanta just before 4 PM ET. As his casket was unloaded, a military band played “Hail to the Chief.”
During the private memorial service livestreamed on Fox News Channel, Carter was eulogized and stories from his life were shared.
His son, James Earl Carter III, spoke of a kind but firm parent who spent time with his Boy Scouts of America troop and took the family on vacations.
“Chip” Carter said that once, while working on the hiking merit badge, their troop hiked six miles to the family farm.
While roasting marshmallows and hot dogs on the fire, President Carter told ghost stories. Some of the tales appeared to spook the scouts to the point that they began employing the “buddy system” when they left the relative security of the fire to use the latrine and so on.
When Chip was in eighth grade, he recalled, he brought home an “F” on a Latin exam just before Christmas break.
“I didnt see any reason to learn latin no one spoke it very much,” he quipped. “But my father was not pleased.”
During their vacation, President Carter would take Chip’s Latin textbook, study it, and return to teach Chip what he had learned himself each day.
When Chip returned to school in January, he asked his teacher to retake the exam. When she assented, he returned home with a 100% score.
The Morehouse College Glee Club provided musical accompaniment during the service, including the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Late Saturday morning, Carter’s motorcade departed his hometown of Plains, a small farming community just below Fort Benning (now Fort Moore) and two hours above Tallahassee, Florida.
Carter’s funeral detail arrived in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. He will lie in repose at the Carter Presidential Center campus. On its way there, the motorcade passed by the girlhood home of Rosalynn Carter. The couple had been married for 77 years when Mrs. Carter died.
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100
The convoy also rolled by Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign headquarters and a gas station that had been owned by his brother, Billy Carter, according to the AP.
The motorcade also passed through the small community of Archery, Georgia – just outside Plains.
It was in Archery where Carter grew up on the family’s peanut farm owned by James Earl Carter Sr. The farm’s bell was rung 39 times on Saturday to honor the 39th president.
Carter’s mother, Lillian, was a nurse, who ironically delivered the then-Rosalynn Smith, who would go on to marry her son.
Carter’s body arrived in Atlanta around 3 p.m. ET, and stopped outside the Georgia State Capitol from where he once governed.
A moment of silence led by Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens were also expected.
A service for Carter, which is not open to the public, will be held at his presidential campus around 4 p.m. ET.
Here is the order of funeral events:
Saturday, Jan. 4:
•10:15 a.m.: The Carter family will arrive at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. Nine current and former Secret Service agents of Carter’s administration will serve as pallbearers, escorting his remains to the hearse.
•10:50 a.m.: The motorcade will travel through Plains, pausing briefly at Carter’s boyhood home in Archery. During this pause, the National Park Service will ring the historic farm bell 39 times, symbolizing Carter’s tenure as the 39th President.
•10:55 a.m.: The journey to Atlanta will begin.
FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER TO SPEND ‘REMAINING TIME’ AT HOME RECEIVING HOSPICE CARE
•3 p.m.: Upon arrival in Atlanta, the motorcade will stop at the Georgia State Capitol for a moment of silence led by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and members of the Georgia General Assembly.
Georgia State Patrol troopers, both current and retired, will assemble on the Capitol steps, with those who served on Carter’s security detail during his governorship taking a place of distinction.
•3:45 p.m.: An arrival ceremony will take place at the Carter Presidential Center.
•4 p.m.: A private service will be conducted in the lobby of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
•7 p.m.: President Carter will lie in repose at the Carter Presidential Center, allowing the public to pay their respects until 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Subsequent services:
•Jan. 7: Carter’s remains will be transported to Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol for national homage.
•Jan. 9: A national funeral service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral, with President Biden expected to deliver the eulogy. Biden has declared Thursday as a National Day of Mourning.
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Following the Washington service, Carter’s remains will return to Georgia for a private funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
He will then be laid to rest next to his late wife, Rosalynn, at their residence.
Fox News Digital’s Andrea Magolis and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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