Three days of tributes to late first lady Rosalynn Carter kicked off Monday — with the Georgian starting her final journey carried by the men sworn to protect her.
Current and former Secret Service agents assigned to Carter’s detail carried her casket to a waiting hearse outside Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., 10 miles east of her hometown of Plains.
After a brief wreath-laying ceremony at Carter’s alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University, the motorcade traveled to Atlanta, where Mrs. Carter will lie in repose Monday evening at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19 at the age of 96, two days after her family announced she had joined her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, in hospice care.
Jimmy Carter, 99, was expected to attend a memorial service in honor of his late wife Tuesday afternoon, a rep for the Carter Center told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The service will also be attended by President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Three other former first ladies — Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump — are also expected to attend.
Following the Atlanta service, Carter’s remains will be taken back to Plains, where a private burial service will be held Wednesday.
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in a statement that announced his wife’s passing.
“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.”
Carter and the former Rosalynn Smith had been married for 77 years, the longest-wed first couple in American history.
Last week the White House ordered US flags at official outposts to be flown at half-staff beginning Saturday and continuing through Wednesday.
The former first lady’s official White House portrait has also been adorned with black crepe.
“First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way,” the president and first lady said in a statement last week.
“Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of society’s greatest needs,” they continued.
Rosalynn Carter had been an advocate of mental health support and joined her husband in championing humanitarian causes.
She is survived by Jimmy Carter, their four children, and 22 grandchildren and great-grand children.