ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — Admirers of former President Jimmy Carter braved frigid temperatures Monday to pay respects to the late president before his six-day funeral procession moves to Washington.
Hundreds of people continued to flock to the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, open since Saturday evening, while Carter lies in repose within a casket draped with the American flag surrounded by a guard of honor provided by the military.
John Ploss, 93, visited the center on Monday to pay respects to a fellow graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Following his graduation from the academy, Carter became a Navy pilot several classes before Ploss, who would also become a pilot.
The Ploss family members spent the weekend visiting the Carters’ Habitat for Humanity project in Plains, before completing the trip Monday at the Carter center, said Ploss’ son, Carl Ploss.
“We’ve been kind of tracking Jimmy’s spiritual journey here, and this is the last step, obviously,” Carl Ploss said. “But in a sense, it’s not the last step; it’s just the end of the physical journey. There’s a lot that will continue.”
Carter was in hospice care for nearly two years before he died last month in the Plains home he shared with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in late 2023 at the age of 96.
Carter admirers toured the Atlanta center that is filled with memorabilia commemorating the life of the longest-living president when he died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
Atlanta’s Chan and Stephanie Parker paid their respects to the late president on Monday, expressing their admiration for his humanitarian efforts and love of music.
The common thread connecting many of the visitors at Carter’s last Georgia public viewing was their gratitude for the late ex-president’s charitable and humanitarian contributions after he left the White House, including more than 30 years working to help Habitat for Humanity build more than 4,000 homes.
The Parkers said that their political views aligned with those espoused by Carter, a Democrat who the Parkers identified as a pillar of character.
“He’s a truly great man, a truly great humanitarian, a good person and good president,” Stephanie Parker said. “He loved music, and I love music. He was just a great person. I don’t think we’ll ever see anyone else” like him again.
The six-day state honors for Carter began on Saturday with a motorcade traversing southwest Georgia’s countryside before arriving at the state Capitol in downtown Atlanta.
The funeral procession stopped along the way outside Carter’s childhood farm in Archery, where National Park Service rangers rang the same bell a young Jimmy Carter did numerous times growing up. A crowd of people held American flags during the funeral procession that passed through Plains’ Main Street on Saturday.
Four Georgia governors and many other political luminaries from both sides of the political aisle paid their respects to Carter as the hearse carrying the late ex-president made a brief ceremonial stop Saturday in front of the state Capitol. The procession would make its way to the Carter Presidential Center for an evening memorial service followed by the start of public visitation.
Carter’s remains will begin a journey at 6 a.m. Tuesday to Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol before Thursday’s funeral service at the National Cathedral.
Then, Carter will return to Georgia, where his remains will be buried at his longtime home in Plains, next to his late wife of 77 years.
Carter’s legacy extends well beyond his time in politics, when he served as a state senator and governor in Georgia. He ushered in an increase in the number of Black state government employees following the end of the Civil Rights Movement during the early 1970s.
A number of Carter’s accomplishments during his presidency include diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, relinquishing control of the Panama Canal and negotiating the Camp David Accords, a 1979 historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
