The wife of former US President Jimmy Carter of the United States Rosalynn Carter, 96, died on Sunday.
Mrs. Carter who is also the former first lady was first among four children of their parents born in the small town of Plains on Aug 18, 1927.
In announcing Rosalynn Carter’s death, the Carter Center said she died earlier on Sunday “with family by her side.”
Rosalyn and Mr. Carter met for the first time in 1945 while she was in college and he was on leave from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. They married in 1946, and hold the record as the longest-wed presidential couple.
According to The Carter Center, Rosalynn Carter had entered hospice care last week after being diagnosed with dementia in May, this year, Jimmy Carter entered hospice care in early 2023.
The Carter Center, which she started with her husband after leaving the White House, called her “a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights.”
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” former president Jimmy Carter said in a statement issued by The Carter Center.
One of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters’ sons, Chip Carter who is among many surviving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, said the former first lady was “extraordinary.”
“My mother was a great humanitarian in her own right,” Chip Carter said.
“She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today.”
former president Jimmy Carter and spouse Rosalynn live in Plains, Georgia. According to his grandson Jason also said in the statement that both former President Jimmy Carter, 99, and first lady were spending time with each other and their family while both are in hospice care together and remain in good spirits.
The former first lady is survived by her four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, after losing a grandson in 2015.
Memorial and funeral details have not yet been released. The Carter Center has opened a portal for the public to share their own memories.
Meanwhile President of the United States Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, former Presidents of the United States and first ladies Donald Trump and Melania Trump, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton and many more First Ladies form outside had also sent the messages of condolence to the bereaved family.
