Mourners honor former US first lady Rosalynn Carter's humanitarian work
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[November 29, 2023]
By Rich McKay and Jonathan Allen
ATLANTA (Reuters) -Rosalynn Carter was remembered on Tuesday for her
humanitarian work and compassion as President Joe Biden and other
dignitaries joined 99-year-old former President Jimmy Carter at an
Atlanta memorial service for the former U.S. first lady, who played a
prominent role during her husband's 1977-1981 presidency.
The former president, who has been in hospice care at his home in
Plains, Georgia, arrived at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church using
a wheelchair. He sat before his wife's flower-bedecked casket with a
blue and white blanket, embroidered with a portrait of Rosalynn, folded
on his lap.
"The alleviation of suffering has been an integral part of Rosalynn's
life for as long as I've known her," Kathryn Cade, a longtime aide and
friend, told the audience at the service for the former first lady, who
died at age 96 on Nov. 19.
Cade described Rosalynn Carter's work to eradicate Guinea worm disease
in West Africa, prevent the loss of habitat for the monarch butterfly
and her years of advocacy for mental health and women's equality.
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, was joined in the front two rows by
dignitaries of both major U.S. political parties: Biden and his wife,
Jill Biden; Vice President Kamala Harris; former President Bill Clinton
and former first ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton
and Laura Bush.
"Rosalynn Carter would be so pleased to see that she brought all of you
together on this day," said Judy Woodruff, a journalist and longtime
friend, drawing laughter from the audience.
Jimmy Carter has called his wife "my equal partner in everything I ever
accomplished." As first lady, she often was invited to sit in as an
observer at cabinet meetings and political strategy discussions and
played a role in his diplomacy in the Middle East and beyond.
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U.S. President Joe Biden, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former
U.S. first ladies Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, Laura Bush and
Hillary Clinton attend a tribute service for former first lady
Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.,
November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
"Mom was always well-informed on the issues of the day," Carter's
son James Earl "Chip" Carter III told the service, describing her
"partnership" with Jimmy Carter during his presidency. "In the White
House, mom asked so many questions that he finally said that she
should attend cabinet meetings. So she did and caught a lot of flack
for that."
Her children and grandchildren recalled fly-fishing trips with
Rosalynn Carter and her fondness for using mayonnaise in her
recipes, and how her human warmth guided her public service.
She died shortly after entering hospice care at her home in Plains,
Georgia. Her family announced in May that she had been diagnosed
with dementia.
Her funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at the Maranatha Baptist
Church in Plains, before an internment at the family residence. Her
body lay in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and
Museum in Atlanta on Monday.
Carter and her husband were the longest-married U.S. presidential
couple, having wed in 1946 when he was 21 and she was 18.
Since his single term as president, Jimmy Carter has lived more
post-White House years than any president before him, and Rosalynn
played an instrumental role during those years, building the Carter
Center nonprofit and the Habitat for Humanity charity.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Jonathan Allen in New York;
Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Atlanta; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman and Will Dunham)
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