Jimmy Carter attended the private funeral of his wife Rosalynn on Wednesday, joining his family at the Maranatha Baptist Church where they worshipped.
The former president arrived in a wheelchair, wearing a red lei around his neck. He and other family members wore necklaces made of the Hawaiian flowers to honor Rosalynn Carter’s love of Hawaii, where the Carters lived when Jimmy was in the Navy.
Her children paid tribute to her and, in one of the service’s sweetest moments, her great-grandchild Charlie Carter read one line from Ephesians 4:32: ‘Be kind to one another.’ And her great-grandchild Adeline Kane Chuldenko read 1 Corinthians 13:13: ‘So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’
In the private funeral service, Maranatha Pastor Tony Lowden paid tribute to ‘the life and legacy of the greatest first lady.’
Rosalynn Carter wasn’t ‘just the first lady of the White House,’ he said. ‘She served every nation around the world.’
After the service, Rosalynn was buried at the modest Plains, Georgia, home she shared with husband Jimmy Carter, in view of the front porch where the two often sat.
Her funeral concludes three-days of tributes to the late first lady, including a service on Tuesday that saw Joe and Jill Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Melania Trump making their farewells.
Jimmy Carter at the funeral serivce for his wife Rosalynn, wearing a red lei in her honor
An honor guard from the Georgia State Patrol stand at the casket before the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga.
James ‘Chip’ Carter and his wife Becky (left) and Amy Carter and her husband John Joseph ‘Jay’ Kelly (right) – all family members wore leis
Jeff Carter, Rosalynn’s son, wipes his eyes during her funeral
Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren walked alongside an SUV carrying Jimmy Carter as Rosalynn’s casket was carried from Marantha for the last time through the town where she lived for more than 80 of her 96 years.
Rosalynn Carter will share a plot with her 99-year-old husband, who left hospice care to make his first public appearance in almost a year when he attended her memorial service in Atlanta.
The two were married for 77 years and their love story – along with Rosalynn’s humanitarian work – was a major theme of Tuesday’s service.
Their daughter Amy Carter choked back tears as she talked about her parents.
‘My mom spent most of her life in love with my dad,’ she noted in Tuesday’s meorial service. ‘Their partnership and love story was a defining feature of her life. Because he isn’t able to speak to you today. I’m going to share some of his words about loving and missing.’
She then read from a letter Jimmy Carter wrote Rosalynn 75 years ago while serving in the Navy: ‘My darling every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are. While I’m away I tried to convince myself you could not be as sweet and beautiful as I remember.’
‘But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again. Does that seem strange to you? It doesn’t to me. Goodbye darling. Until tomorrow Jimmy.’
Jimmy Carter sat in the front row as his daughter spoke. He arrived at the service in a wheelchair and underneath a blanket bearing Rosalynn’s face.
He was joined by his family and alongside all the living first ladies – Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and Jill Biden – along President Joe Biden and Bill Clinton.
After the elaborate public mourning, Rosalynn’s funeral service on Wednesday, which took place at the Maranatha Baptist Church where she and her husband worshipped, was much more simple and low key.
All members of the congregration were invited to attend along with the Carter family. Her great grandchild Charles Jeffrey Carter read from scripture.
Charles Jeffrey Carter, Rosalynn Carter’s great grandson, walks with a Bible where he read one line from Ephesians 4:32: ‘Be kind to one another.’
Adeline Kane Chuldenko, great grandchild of Rosalynn, read 1 Corinthians 13:13: ‘So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love’
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s home in Plains, Ga., where she will be buried
Jimmy Carter in Maranatha Baptist Church for his wife’s funeral
An Armed Forces body bearer team carries the casket after the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter out of Maranatha Baptist Church
A procession carrying family and invited guests of Rosalynn Carter through Plains, Ga.
Carter family members follow the hearse after the funeral service
Democratic Presidential nominee, Jimmy Carter, and his wife, Rosalynn, are surrounded by family on the podium after Carter made his acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976
After the service, the hearse will take her through the town where she grew up, past the church where she married Jimmy, and to what locals call ‘the Carter compound,’ the property that includes the Carters’ one-story ranch house, the pond where she fished, and the security outposts for the Secret Service agents who protected her for 47 years.
The two-bedroom, one-story ranch house was built by Jimmy Carter and is worth about $240,000.
She is not the first first lady to be buried at home: Rachel Jackson and Eleanor Roosevelt are buried in their gardens.
The Carters decamped to their modest Georgia home after they left the White House in January 1981. But it’s not the first time they moved back to their hometown.
Jimmy Carter decided to leave the Navy – which included a posting in Hawaii when he was assigned to the USS Pomfret, which was stationed at Pearl Harbor – to return to the family peanut farm in Plains, his decision angered Rosalynn, according to Carter family lore.
‘That family story is that they rode in the car from Connecticut to Plains, Georgia and when Mom had something to say to Dad, she would say, ‘Jack, would you tell your father…,’ said James Earl ‘Chip’ Carter III, telling the story during a tribute to his late mother Tuesday at a memorial service in Atlanta.
People watch the motorcade as it moves to Maranatha Baptist Church where the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter will be held
Onlookers in Georgia hold signs for Rosalynn Carter
The hearse moves down Main street with the casket of Rosalynn Carter
Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter embraces his wife Rosalynn after receiving the final news of his victory in the 1976 presidential election
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrating Christmas at their Georgia house in December 1978
Jimmy Carter departs the funeral service for Rosalynn Carter
A makeshift memorial for former first lady Rosalynn Carter is displayed near Main St. of Plains
Jimmy Carter’s graduation from U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland – Rosalynn Carter and Lillian Carter pin on his Ensign Bars (from June 1946)
Pastor Tony Lowden speaks during the funeral service for Rosalynn Carter
At Tuesday’s service, Rosalynn was feted by the people who knew her best: her children and grandchildren.
Jason Carter, a Carter grandson, said of Rosalynn Carter: ‘My grandmother doesn’t need a eulogy, her life was a sermon.’
He talked about how Rosalynn was like all other grandmothers, giving her grandkids a $20 on their birthday and ‘almost all of her recipes call for mayonnaise.’
‘She was born just a few years after women got the right to vote in this small town in the south where people were still plowing their fields behind mules,’ he said.
‘She shaped our national policy she faced down dictators herself on issues of human rights. She built the Carter Center from an idea into a powerhouse human rights.’
He praised her global humanitarian missions, such as her work to eradicate guinea worm, pointing out the world has gone from 3.5 million cases a year to less than a dozen.
‘We’re in the last mile because she could see far and she kept going. She was not afraid of these long journeys,’ he said.
The Carters’ son James said of the former first lady: ‘My mother was the glue that held our family together through the ups and downs and thick and thin of our family’s politics.’
James told stories of his family’s adventures in politics and the good humor his mother displayed during the tough times.
He credited his mother for getting him into rehab for his drug and alcohol addiction.
‘She saved my life,’ he said.
And he concluded with: ‘My mother, Rosalynn Carter was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. And pretty to look at too.’
Former President Jimmy Carter has a blanket with his wife Rosalynn’s picture on it
James ‘Chip’ Carter kisses the head of his father, former US President Jimmy Carter, during a tribute service for Rosalynn Carter
Melania Trump and her fellow former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton
Amy Carter with her father Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter sat in the first row with his sons, John William ‘Jack’ Carter, James Earl ‘Chip’ Carter III and Donnel Jeffrey ‘Jeff’ Carter and his daughter, Amy Lynn Carter, during the service.
Amy was seen holding her father’s hand during a performance of ‘Morning Has Broken’ by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus.
Next to the family in the front row were the president, first lady, Bill Clinton and the former first ladies.
During her eulogy, journalist Judy Woodruff greeted the front row by name and said: ‘Rosalynn Carter would be so pleased to see she brought all of you together on this day.’
Her comment was met with laughter and applause.
Jason Carter, the Carters’ grandson, also paid tribute to the leaders in attendance, saying ‘Secretary Clinton and Dr. Biden – we also welcome your lovely husbands.’
The crowd roared in return.
Also during the service, country music legendary couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performed John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’ The couple became close to the Carters through their work with Habitat for Humanity.
Tony Lowden, the Carters’ pastor, said Rosalynn would have wanted to thank the Secret Service, who guarded her for 46 years.
‘For 46 years they made sure she got home safe. I want to tell each and every one of them, she would tell you, ‘Thank you. You got me home safe,’ he said.
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife former first lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on July 10, 2021
Amy Carter choked back tears as she read a letter her father wrote to her mother while he was in the Navy 75 years ago
‘She was born just a few years after women got the right to vote in this small town in the south where people were still plowing their fields behind mules,’ Jason Carter said of his grandmother
The casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter is carried out of Glenn Memorial Church after her tribute service
Former President Jimmy Carter arrives for his late wife’s service
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood perform ‘Imagine’ at the service
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive in Georgia
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff sat in the second row behind Melania Trump at the service.
Georgia’s Senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, were also in attendance as was Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Jimmy Carter met his future wife only a few days after her mother delivered her.
The couple first dated in 1945. The 20-year-old Jimmy was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and stole a kiss from Rosalynn on their first date. He later told his mother he wanted to marry her.
Just weeks before Jimmy graduated from the Naval academy, Jimmy and Rosalynn tied the knot on July 7, 1946, at Plains Methodist Church in their hometown.
The newlyweds moved to Norfolk, Virginia, shortly after their nuptials for the first of many Naval assignments that saw the Carters posted in California, Hawaii, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Jimmy and Rosalynn had four children, and 25 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 2018, their grandson Jeremy died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 28.
They welcomed their first child John ‘Jack’ William Carter on July 3, 1947, in Portsmouth, Virginia. Jack later served in the Vietnam War and ran for Senate in 2006.
Their second son, James ‘Chip’ Earl Carter, was born April 12, 1950, in Honolulu and their third son Donnel ‘Jeff’ Jeffrey Carter was born in New London, Connecticut, in August two years later.
Their fourth child and only daughter, Amy Lynn, was born October 1967 in the couple’s hometown Plains, Georgia, as he ventured into politics.
Carter was with his wife of 77 years when she died on November 19th. They are the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history.