President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses will travel to Georgia next week to attend services for Rosalynn Carter, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Carter, a former first lady and the wife of former President Jimmy Carter, died Sunday at her home in Plains, Georgia.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be joined by Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff in Atlanta on Tuesday for a tribute celebration, the administration official said. Former first lady Laura Bush will also attend.
Rosalynn Carter died at age 96. She was remembered as a humanitarian who championed mental health care and provided constant political counsel to her husband.
The memorial events are scheduled to begin Monday with a wreath-laying at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, from which Rosalynn Carter graduated in 1946. She will lie in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.
Tuesday's tribute service will be held at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University in Atlanta with invited guests.
On Wednesday, a funeral service will be held at the Carters' longtime place of worship, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. The former first lady will be interred at the Carters’ residence in a private ceremony.
The Bidens visited the Carters at their home in April 2021. Senior aides and the president have indicated that he has been in touch by phone with the Carters in the past year and with their family upon Rosalynn Carter’s passing following a dementia diagnosis and a brief period of hospice care at home.
Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were married for more than 77 years — a record for first couples. Jimmy Carter is 99.
"Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it," Jimmy Carter said in a statement. "As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
