Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died.
The 39th president of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, died peacefully Sunday, Dec. 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family.
"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son in a statement from The Carter Center. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
In the last few years of his life, Carter spent time teaching Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in Georgia.
Even after falling and breaking his pelvis in 2019, Carter was back in church and teaching Sunday school two weeks later.
Carter has taught Sunday school at various churches since he was a teenager.
Carter travelled to Winnipeg for a building blitz in 1993 when he helped construct 18 homes. He visited a second time in 2017 to participate in a special building blitz organized by Habitat for Humanity and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. That project saw just over two dozen homes built in St.James.
Members of the public are encouraged to share their condolences on the official tribute website to President Carter at www.jimmycartertribute.org.
There will be public observances in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., followed by a private interment in Plains, Georgia. The final arrangements for President Carter’s state funeral, including all public events and motorcade routes, are still pending.
President Carter is survived by his children — Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Rosalynn, and one grandchild.
He was 100 years old.