The farewell to former President Jimmy Carter began on Saturday in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he was born over a century ago. A procession featuring his casket, draped in an American flag, left Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus. Former Secret Service agents who once protected Carter served as pallbearers, accompanying the hearse from the medical center.
Family members, including Carter’s four children along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are honoring their patriarch. The procession will travel through Plains, passing his childhood home on the way to Atlanta.
Carter passed away in his Plains residence on December 29 at the remarkable age of 100. Residents lined the route of the procession in downtown Plains, near a historic train depot where Carter launched his presidential campaign decades ago. Many attendees brought flowers or wore commemorative buttons featuring Carter’s image.
“I want to pay my respects,” said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born long after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time in what he tried to do and accomplish.”
Shelbrock traveled with his grandmother from Gainesville, Florida, to witness the beginning of Carter’s final journey. He expressed admiration for Carter’s humanitarian efforts, his promotion of peace, and his initiative to install solar panels at the White House.
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who passed away in November 2023, spent most of their lives in Plains, with brief periods during Jimmy’s naval career and his terms as Georgia’s governor and the nation’s president.
The procession will stop at the Carter family farm just outside of Plains, where the National Park Service will ring a historic bell 39 times in tribute to Carter’s legacy as the 39th president. From there, his remains will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia State Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.
On Tuesday morning, he will be transported to Washington, D.C., to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. A state funeral will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for a private service at the Maranatha Baptist Church. He will be buried near his home, alongside his beloved wife, Rosalynn.
