Former President Jimmy Carter will lie in repose in Georgia: Updates

ATLANTA ? Funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter began Saturday as the U.S. pays respect to the 39th president who passed away last Sunday at 100 years old. The nation will honor Carter over six days of funeral events.

A funeral motorcade started in the morning near Carter's farming hometown of Plains. The solemn sound of a bell ringing out 39 times broke the quiet of a chilly January morning at Carter’s boyhood home. (That same bell would ring an hour before daylight during Carter's boyhood, which was the name of his memoir about his early years.)

Then, his remains were taken to the state capital in Atlanta, where he was honored in a moment of silence at the Capitol before a service at the Carter Center.

Along the hours-long journey to Atlanta, people celebrated the peanut farmer turned commander-in-chief by waving American flags and saluting him one last time.

'An unbelievable American story': Mourners line streets from Plains to honor Jimmy Carter

"I think he was the finest man that ever served in office," said Randy Fenley, who traveled from Macon, Georgia, for the procession.

Carter will lie in repose at the Carter Center starting Saturday evening. The public can pay respects at any time of day until 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. From there, the late president and his family will travel to Washington, D.C. A full schedule for the week is below.

Family legacy: Jimmy Carter's family tree extends deep into the Peach State

'His spirit fills this place': Funeral service held

The motorcade carrying former President Carter’s remains entered the Circle of Flags at the Carter Center just before 4 p.m. As Carter approached one side of the circle, a silence fell over the area, with only the clicking of reporters’ cameras punctuating the still air.

The military band then began playing Hail to the Chief and America the Beautiful, as the sun cast long shadows across the drive.

Opposite the band were members of Carter’s family, including former Georgia State Senator and grandson to the president, Jason Carter.

Service members brought Carter’s casket, draped in the American flag, into the Carter Center.

Jason Carter, who serves as board chair for the Carter Center, gave opening remarks to start the service at the center, which houses the presidential museum and collections of his works.

“His spirit fills this place,” he said. “The real reason that his spirit fills this place is because of the people who are standing here.”

Their family story is an “unbelievable American story," Carter said, telling the Carter Center employees that they continue his legacy.

“We will spend this week celebrating this incredible life, and a life that I think we can all agree is as full and powerful as any life can be,” Carter said. “As someone said, ‘It’s amazing what you can cram into 100 years.’”

'An unbelievable American story': Mourners line streets from Plains to honor Jimmy Carter

Memorial builds for Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center

A memorial for the late president was growing outside the Carter Center in Atlanta. The grassy area surrounding the nonprofit’s sign overflowed with flowers, handwritten tributes, and mementos.

Mourners left out several jars of peanuts, a nod to Carter’s early years spent toiling on a peanut farm in Plains. Others left light blue construction hats in honor of Carter’s decades-long work with Habitat for Humanity.

Among the many notes was one signed by a 7-year-old named Stella, who thanked Carter for “fighting for equal rights and world peace.” A pink Care Bear laid beside the note.

? Melissa Cruz, for the Savannah Morning News

In Atlanta, Jimmy Carter left a figurative and literal mark

At the Capitol in Atlanta, a funeral wreath and black bunting surrounded the state of Georgia's official gubernatorial portrait. Carter was elected to the state Senate in 1962 before serving as Georgia's governor from 1971 to 1976.

Carter left marks figuratively and literally in office while he was Georgia's governor. Carter started the tradition ? upheld by every executive since ? of signing the inside of the middle drawer of the governor's desk. Carter's is the only signature in pencil.

? Joe Hotchkiss, Augusta Chronicle, and Melissa Cruz, for the Savannah Morning News

On the road to Atlanta, Georgia honors Carter

On country roads leading to Atlanta, people across Georgia paid their respects to the late president and former governor Jimmy Carter.

Images posted to social media by the Carter Center showed crowds saluting and waving the American flag as the hearse carrying Carter’s remains to the state capital passed. His agricultural hometown of Plains, in South Georgia, is about two-and-a-half hours south from Atlanta.

Carter's journey passes through farming communities much like his own, before arriving to the sprawling metropolitan hub of Atlanta. Atlanta has grown considerably from when Carter was born, let alone served as a Democratic state senator and governor in the Capitol.

In 1962, when Carter ran for a state Senate seat, Atlanta was the 24th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and gradually desegregating during the civil rights movement. In 2024, the year Carter turned 100, Atlanta was the sixth largest metropolitan area and one of the fastest growing in the country, according to the Census Bureau. Georgia has also grown considerably, driven in large part by the Atlanta region.

LeAnne Smith, Jimmy Carter's niece, remembers uncle

LeAnne Smith, a Plains local and Jimmy Carter’s niece, was one of many locals remembering Carter downtown.

She recalled one Thanksgiving, when Carter said, "I've got to tell y'all something." He was going to run for president, she said. Her father responded, "President of what?"

His response was simple: "The United States," she said. The family laughed and kept fixing their plates, she recalled.

When Smith was an eighth grader, she helped her uncle run for president. She “took off with the Peanut Brigade” to Florida in 1976 to knock on doors and ask people to “vote for (her) Uncle Jimmy for president,” she said.

Motorcade begins from Americus to Plains

The motorcade for Jimmy Carter began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia.

Carter's motorcade made a brief stop in front of his boyhood farm as a bell rang 39 times, a symbol of him being the 39th U.S. president. National Park Service staff stood in honor of Carter. Randy Dillard of the Park Service rang the bell, the Carter Center said on social media. He was assisted by Park Service member Karen Barry.

Plains is in Sumter County in the southwest portion of the state. The city is about an hour south of Columbus, Georgia, and about two-and-a-half hours southwest of Atlanta. Carter lived much of his life outside of politics in Plains.

Locals honor Plains' hometown hero

In the ice-sharp morning breeze in downtown Plains, locals and travelers alike bundled up in black and brown woolen trench coats and plaid scarves. Hundreds of people strolled beneath aged signs illuminated by Edison bulbs that proclaim Jimmy Carter ? 39th president of the United States ? as Plains’ hometown hero.

People laid flowers at the foot of former President Jimmy Carter's monument in downtown Plains on Saturday morning. The memorial includes Habitat for Humanity hard hats with written notes on them. One reads: "God bless you Mr. President."

The atmosphere wasn’t one of sadness, though. It was one of remembrance, and warm as the vintage lights downtown. Almost every local ? and even some from further out than Plains ? had a connection to Carter they’re remembering Saturday.

Naomi Richardson, the owner of M.G. Richardson Bed and Breakfast in Richland, Georgia, said she remembers Carter and her late grandfather being good friends.

Richardson said she heard the men talk politics often when she was young.

“They were opposite parties, but never once were they cross with each other. You’d never even know unless you really listened to them talk,” Richardson said. “All I remember now is what they agreed on when they talked it out, mainly taking care of the poor.”

Keaymonda Hollis, who grew up in Plains, said his grandfather was also close friends with Carter in his childhood, and that Carter wrote about his grandfather as his “African American childhood friend” in his first book.

Hollis said that he was part of Carter’s expedition to build a Boys & Girls Club “about a mile up the road” from Plains. Carter got a team of local kids to help with the project, which included Hollis, who was 12 years old then. Hollis said he was unaware of the ties they had to each other at the time. Hollis said Carter bought the kids lunch while they worked, and that he rode in the Suburban with the Carters.

“Growing up here, everyone looked out for each other,” Hollis said. “It’s so amazing to me that a person from a small town community can make such an impact on the world. A lot of people really don’t know that he did all these (humanitarian) things. Small town people can make an impact wherever they go.

Where is Carter's funeral today?

On Saturday morning, the state funeral motorcade will begin where he and first lady Rosalynn Carter received care, at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus. Current and former Secret Service personnel will carry his remains to the hearse. The hearse will then pass his boyhood home near Plains.

The motorcade will then move north to Atlanta, where state and city leaders will hold a moment of silence at the state Capitol. In the late afternoon, his remains will arrive for a ceremony and service at the Carter Presidential Center.

Mourners can come and pay their respects as his body lies in repose until Tuesday.

What are the rest of Carter's funeral plans?

On Tuesday after a morning ceremony for Carter at the Carter Center, the late president and his family will travel to Washington, D.C.

After arrival at Joint Base Andrews, the motorcade will proceed to the U.S. Navy Memorial in the nation's capital for a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol. Congress will pay respects during a 3 p.m. ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.

Carter will then lie in state from 7 p.m. to midnight for public viewing on Tuesday. Carter will continue to lie in state on Wednesday.

On Thursday, declared a National Day of Mourning by President Joe Biden, Carter's funeral will take place at Washington National Cathedral.

After the funeral, Carter and his family will return to Georgia to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for a private funeral service and to Carter's private residence for a private interment.

Who was Jimmy Carter? 

The son of a farmer and nurse, Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, according to his official biography. He grew up in nearby Archery. He attended public schools, went to the U.S. Naval Academy and became a nuclear engineer, serving on the second nuclear submarine. He married Rosalynn Smith in 1946.

When his father died, Carter returned home to his family farm and also operated a seed and farm supply company in Plains. He served in the Georgia Senate before becoming governor in 1971.

In 1976, he ran for president as a Democrat and won, beginning his term at 52 years old. Carter served a single term in the White House.

As president, Carter expanded diplomatic relations abroad, invested in the energy sector and increased national park space for Americans. However, he also oversaw inflation and an American hostage crisis that likely cost his re-election, losing to Ronald Reagan.

Carter had a lengthy post-presidency with humanitarian work across the globe, including with preventable diseases. In 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to "find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

On Nov. 19, 2023, Rosalynn Carter died at their home in Plains. She was 96.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Carter's state funeral live updates: Service in Georgia