Jimmy Carter’s six-day state funeral begins – NBC Chicago

Jimmy Carter’s long public farewell began Saturday in southern Georgia, where the 39th U.S. president’s life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket heads toward his hometown of Plains and passes his childhood home en route to Atlanta. The procession began at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A sad train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned toward the hearse for a final goodbye, hands on their hearts.

The Carter family, which includes the former president’s four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as his six-day state funeral begins.

Carter, the longest-serving U.S. president, died at his home in Plains on December 29 at the age of 100.

Families lined the motorcade route in downtown Plains, near the historic railroad depot where Carter based his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or memorial pins bearing Carter’s photo.

“We want to honor him,” said Will Porter Shelbrock, 12, born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time in what he tried to do it and tried to do it. to accomplish. »

It was Shelbrock’s idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Fla., with her grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter’s final journey. Shelbrock said he admired Carter for his humanitarian work building homes and promoting peace, as well as installing solar panels at the White House.

Carter and his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the city, with the exception of Jimmy’s career in the Navy and his terms as governor and president of Georgia.

The motorcade will stop in front of Carter’s home on his family farm just outside Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter’s remains will then travel to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.

There he will lie until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.

He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.

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Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics, including several presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.