Rosalynn Carter funeral: Jimmy pays touching tribute to late wife at memorial service

The grandson of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter previously told news outlets that even at the end of their lives, the two were still together and holding hands.

“They are still here, they are still holding hands and still very much together,” Josh Carter told People magazine in August.

Carter and her husband were married for 77 years.

Toward the end of her life, Carter was diagnosed with dementia. But even then, she was able to recognise her husband.

Josh Carter told People Carter was aware of Mr Carter and her other family members at the time but that it was probably “hard” for Mr Carter to see his wife lose access to older memories.

“I think the beautiful thing is that they are still together,” Josh said.

Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter delivered an emotional tribute of his grandmother.

“My grandmother doesn’t need a eulogy; her life was a sermon,” Mr Carter said.

John William “Jack” Carter, 76, is the eldest son of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

He spent his young adult years at the Georgia Institute of Technology, but later left to join the US Navy and served during the Vietnam War.

He would eventually be discharged after he was caught smoking marijuana while stationed in Idaho, but would later rejoin Georgia Tech and earn a degree in nuclear physics.

Like his father, Mr Carter also had a stint in US politics, winning the Democratic primary for the US Senate of Nevada in 2006, but lost the general election to Republican John Ensign.

James Earl “Chip” Carter III, 73, the second eldest son, was handed down his father’s and grandfather’s name. He later had a son with his first wife Caron Griffin, who he also bestowed the name upon.

He worked in the family peanut warehouse for a while before he was elected to the Plains City Council and worked on the Democratic National Committee, he told the University of Georgia.

Donnel “Jeff” Carter, 71, is the youngest of the Carter brothers.

He studied geography and computer cartography and later co-founded the company, Computer Mapping Consultants, with his former professor the same year he graduated, he told Time magazine.

He had three children, Joshua, Jeremy and the late James.

Amy Carter, 56, is the only daughter and youngest child by 15 years of the former president and first lady.

Ms Carter spent her childhood years in the White House while her father was serving as president, putting her in the political and media spotlight at a young age.

She later went on to become known for her political activism, such as participating in protests and sit-ins against US foreign policy in Central America and apartheid in South Africa. On one occasion in 1986, Ms Carter and several others were arrested during a protest against CIA recruitment.

During a tribute from Rosalynn Carter’s son, James Earl “Chip” Carter III, the former first lady’s son described how his mother kept the entire Carter family together.

Mr Carter described his mother as “the glue” that held the family together “through the ups and downs and thicks of things of our family’s politics.”

He reflected on her time as first lady and her desire to help people throughout the country as well as establish duties for the Office of the First Lady.

“She told me that when dad started running for president that the thing that she enjoyed the most was the people that she met across the country,” Mr Carter said.

He added that Rosalynn’s empathetic nature helped him personally when he needed to seek help for his substance use disorder.

Rosalynn Carter has been remembered for her dedication to mental health awareness during a tribute service honouring the former first lady.

On Tuesday 28 November, former US president Jimmy Carter was joined by fellow former presidents, first ladies, and US politicians for a tribute service at Emory University’s Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The service comes more than one week after her death on 19 November aged 96.

Country music legends Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks sang John Lennon’s song Imagine at former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s tribute ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.

The two musicians, who were close friends of the Carters, performed an acoustic version in Carter’s honour.

Pastor Tony Lowden, the family pastor of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, made sure to thank Secret Service members who spent 46 protecting the former first lady for getting her home safe.

“For 46 years they made sure she got home safe,” Pastor Lowden said during the tribute service on Tuesday afternoon.

“I want to tell each and every one of them, she would tell you, ‘Thank you. You got me home safe.’” He added.