'She was an amazing woman': Rosalynn Carter memorials pay tribute to historic first lady

PLAINS, Ga. — In downtown Plains, dozens of people stood behind metal barricades, waiting for the Carter family’s motorcade.

Diana and Monte Evans stopped in the small Georgia town while on their way back to Wichita, Kansas, from Tampa, Florida, where they spent Thanksgiving.

“We saw this was happening, and we just had to see it,” Diana Evans said.

After a fleet of motorcycles and squad cars passed, the pair headed toward a small shack that served as Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign headquarters. They also planned to visit the Carter family farm.

The couple aren’t alone in taking time to observe former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s life and work this week. Many Americans will attend memorials and events honoring her in Georgia after her death earlier this month at age 96. “She was an amazing woman,” Diana Evans said as she looked at a photo collage of Rosalynn Carter that read “First Lady From Plains.

The schedule of observances honoring Rosalynn Carter started Monday with a wreath laying at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University, where the former first lady attended college.

The event was attended by family, university leaders and leadership of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, which she founded in an effort to aid the millions of unpaid caregivers across the country. Two wreaths adorned with white flowers were placed on either side of a statue of Rosalynn Carter during the solemn memorial.

The Carters’ four children, Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy, were all in attendance.

Rosalynn Carter is lying in repose at The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta Monday evening, an event open for the public to mourn the former first lady, a longtime humanitarian and trailblazer on mental health, caregiving and other crucial issues.

Rosalynn Carter's casket was carried into The Carter Center just after 3:15 p.m. Monday by the Armed Forces body bearers with representatives from each branch of the U.S. Military. On the way into the center, Carter's casket was walked past family standing on the sidewalk. The casket was donned with an elaborate flower arrangement that included sunflowers and other shades of yellow, red and white.

A tribute service Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University is scheduled for Tuesday, where President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will lead the dignitaries in attendance. Former President Jimmy Carter is expected to attend the service, alongside former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to the service, as will former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.

The Carter family last week said they have heard from thousands of people since her passing seeking to celebrate the matriarch’s life and legacy.

“Rosalynn Carter’s deep compassion for people everywhere and her untiring strength on their behalf touched lives around the world,” the Carter family said, adding “Thank you all for joining us in celebrating what a treasure she was, not only to us, but to all humanity.”

Honoring a first lady

The former first lady’s funeral service will be in Plains on Wednesday at the Maranatha Baptist Church, where Jimmy Carter taught Sunday school. She is set to be buried in a private ceremony at the home she and Jimmy Carter shared for decades.

Historians and other experts emphasized that Plains is synonymous with the Carters’ life and legacies. The small town, with a population of about 600, is where the couple grew up and made their longtime home, a one-story ranch house they built in 1961.

"I don't think you can stress the significance of Plains enough," Amber Roessner, a professor at the University of Tennessee who has written extensively on the Carters, told USA TODAY.

Complete schedule of Rosalynn Carter's memorial services

Tuesday (all times EST):

11:30-11:45 a.m.: Carter Presidential Center departure ceremony. Motorcade proceeds to Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University.

1-2:30 p.m.: Tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University with invited guests.

Wednesday:

10:55 a.m.: The funeral procession arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.

11 a.m.: A service for family and invited friends takes place at the church.

12:30 p.m.: The casket will be transferred to a hearse and depart for private interment at the Carter family residence.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rosalynn Carter memorials honor historic first lady, her Georgia roots