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Nov 20, 2023 - Politics & Policy

Rosalynn Carter’s Georgia funeral plans released

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Rosalynn Carter in the White House solarium. Photo: Getty Images

Funeral and celebration services will take place across Georgia next week for Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady who died Sunday at the age of 96.

Why it matters: The wife of former president Jimmy Carter paved her own legacy as a mental health advocate and a trailblazing "full partner," Axios' Emma Hurt and Sareen Habeshian report.

Driving the news: Ceremonies will begin Monday Nov. 27 and run through Wednesday, Nov. 29 in the Carters' southwest Georgia hometown of Plains, nearby Americus and Atlanta, according to The Carter Center.

Details: On Monday, the Carter family's motorcade will arrive at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus — Carter's alma mater — around 11am for a wreath-laying ceremony.

  • The motorcade then will drive north to The Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.
  • A repose ceremony will begin that afternoon at 3:30pm in the lobby of the museum, and the public will be allowed to pay their respects from 6-10pm.
  • A shuttle service will be available at St. Luke's Episcopal Church at 435 Peachtree Street NE.
  • On Tuesday, a 1pm tribute service is planned at Emory University, where Carter was a fellow in the women's studies department between 1990-2018, according to the Emory Wheel.
  • The motorcade will travel back to Plains on Wednesday for an 11am private service at Maranatha Baptist Church, which is where the former president taught Sunday School for decades.

Carter will be interred on the grounds of the couple's private residence in Plains, which they have owned since 1961. Decades ago they donated it to the National Park Service to become a historic site after their deaths.

  • The couple have long planned to be buried in their hometown. "Plains is where our hearts have always been," Jimmy Carter told CSPAN in 2006..

Catch up quick: Carter entered hospice care earlier this month, her grandson announced on Friday. She had been diagnosed with dementia in May.

  • Former president Carter, who is 99, began hospice care in February.
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