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Former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral service began Saturday morning as former and current Secret Service agents assigned to his detail carried his casket into a hearse.
Carter’s six-day funeral procession began early Saturday at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. Secret Service agents carried his flag-covered casket into a hearse as members of Carter’s family, dressed in black, watched on.
From there, the procession passed through his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Dozens gathered along the town’s main road to mourn the former president. Many mourners saluted his hearse as it passed by.
One person held signs that read, “President Carter, a man of honor,” and “Thank you, President Carter!”
Keaymonda Hollis was one of those present to watch Carter pass by. Her grandfather knew Carter well.
“Growing up here, everyone looked out for each other,” Hollis told the Montgomery Advertiser. “It’s so amazing to me that a person from a small town community can make such an impact on the world. A lot of people really don’t know that he did all these (humanitarian) things. Small town people can make an impact wherever they go.”
The procession then stopped by Carter’s childhood home, known as The Boyhood Home and Farm and maintained by the National Park Service.
There, the National Park Service saluted the 39th president and rang the historic farm bell 39 times.
Now, Carter’s procession is en route to Atlanta, where he’ll be honored by Governor Brian Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, members of the Georgia Legislature and Georgia State Patrol troopers.
After a short private memorial service at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, the former president will lie in repose at the center until Tuesday morning.
From there, his procession will travel to Washington, DC, where he will lie in state before his national funeral service at the National Cathedral on Tuesday.
Carter, a Democrat who served as president from 1977 to 1981, died aged 100 on December 29.
