Jimmy Carter’s funeral begins with motorcade through Georgia

Families lined the streets, some carrying flowers and others wearing pins featuring Carter’s photo.

A young boy salutes as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter moves through downtown Plains, Georgia. (AP photo)

Jimmy Carter’s six-day state funeral commenced Saturday at his hometown of Plains, Georgia, marking the beginning of a public farewell for the 39th president of the United States.

Carter’s flag-draped casket departed Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, accompanied by former Secret Service agents serving as pallbearers. The Carter family, including his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, joined the motorcade as it made its way through Plains, passing the historic train depot that served as Carter’s 1976 campaign headquarters.

Families lined the streets, some carrying flowers and others wearing pins featuring Carter’s photo.

Will Porter Shelbrock, a 12-year-old from Gainesville, Florida, made the trip with his grandmother to pay tribute. “He was ahead of his time,” said Shelbrock, referencing Carter’s humanitarian work and environmental advocacy, including the installation of solar panels on the White House.

People line the road before the hearse with the casket of former President Jimmy Carter departs Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. (AP photo)

The motorcade paused at Carter’s boyhood home, where the National Park Service rang the family farm bell 39 times to honor his presidency. From there, the procession continued to Atlanta for a moment of silence at the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.

Carter’s remains will lie in repose at the Carter Center until Tuesday morning before being transported to Washington, DC, where he will lie in state at the US Capitol.

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State funeral and final resting place

The state funeral will take place Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, a venue that has hosted memorials for many US presidents. Carter’s journey will then come full circle as he is returned to Plains for a private funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school for decades.

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Jimmy Carter will be buried next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in November 2023.

(With inputs from AP)

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