Amongst these paying homage was his niece, who famous the thirty ninth president’s years of service in an emotional tackle at Maranatha Baptist Church, the place Carter taught Sunday college for many years.

“I simply need to learn one in every of Uncle Jimmy’s quotes,” Kim Fuller mentioned through the Sunday college morning service, including: “Oh, that is going to be actually onerous.”

She referenced this quote from Carter: “I’ve one life and one likelihood to make it rely for one thing. I’m free to decide on that one thing. … My religion calls for that I do no matter I can, wherever I can, at any time when I can, for so long as I can.”

“Perhaps if we give it some thought, perhaps it’s time to cross the baton,” Fuller mentioned earlier than main these gathered in prayer. “Who picks it up, I’ve no clue. I don’t know. As a result of this baton’s going to be a very huge one.”

Carter, at age 98 the longest-lived American president, had a latest collection of brief hospital stays. The Carter Center said in a statement Saturday that he has now “determined to spend his remaining time at house along with his household and obtain hospice care as an alternative of extra medical intervention.”

In Atlanta, folks, some touring many miles, made the journey to The Carter Heart to mirror on the lifetime of the previous president on a spring-like Sunday underneath a sunny sky.

“I introduced my sons down right here immediately to pay respect for President Carter and train them a bit bit about how nice a humanitarian he was, particularly within the later phases of his life,” mentioned James Culbertson, who drove an hour to Atlanta from Calhoun, Georgia.

The presidential library was closed in honor of President’s Day weekend, however folks have been nonetheless exhibiting as much as stroll previous the fountains and thru the gardens.

David Brummett of Frederick County, Maryland, mentioned he modified his Sunday morning plans when he heard information that Carter was in hospice care.

Brummett paused close to a big statue of Carter, the place somebody had positioned a potted plant of purple chrysanthemums on the base.

“Nice man, nice president, in all probability under-appreciated by those that didn’t know a lot about him,” Brummett mentioned. “Individuals ought to come right here to understand the life, and the contributions he made each throughout his presidency and after.”

Margaret Seitter of Atlanta met Carter within the Eighties, when he spoke about overseas relations in one in every of her courses at Emory College. Seitter and her pal, Larry Goeser, visiting from Florida, have been amongst these paying their respects at The Carter Heart.

Each mentioned they have been impressed by Carter’s work with Habitat for Humanity, which he continued by serving to to construct homes effectively into his later life.

“Undoubtedly need to go construct a Habitat for Humanity home in his honor,” Seitter mentioned.

Following Fuller’s Sunday college service at Maranatha Baptist Church, Pastor Hugh Deloach supplied prayers for the Carter household, notably for Rosalynn Carter, the spouse of the previous president.

The Carters have been married for greater than 75 years, making American historical past because the longest-married presidential couple.

“Lord, particularly Mrs. Carter, and God look again on occasions and years that they’ve been collectively and Lord simply strengthen her within the energy of your may as effectively,” the pastor mentioned.

Others took to social media to recollect Carter, who served one time period after defeating President Gerald Ford in 1976.

President Joe Biden tweeted: “To our mates Jimmy and Rosalynn and to their household — Jill and I are with you in prayer and ship you our love.”

“We admire you for the power and humility you’ve proven in troublesome occasions. Might you proceed your journey with grace and dignity, and God grant you peace,” Biden wrote.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, additionally took to Twitter to pay homage to Carter: “Throughout life’s seasons, President Jimmy Carter, a person of nice religion, has walked with God. On this tender time of transitioning, God is definitely strolling with him.”

“Might he, Rosalynn & your complete Carter household be comforted with that peace and surrounded by our love & prayers,” Warnock wrote.

The Carters volunteered for many years with Habitat for Humanity, starting in 1984 and persevering with till 2020.

“All of us at Habitat for Humanity are lifting up President and Mrs. Carter in prayer as he enters hospice care,” Habitat for Humanity Worldwide CEO Jonathan Reckford mentioned in an announcement.

“We pray for his consolation and for his or her peace, and that the Carter household experiences the enjoyment of their relationships with one another and with God on this time,” Reckford mentioned.

Nicholas Kristof, a New York Occasions columnist, tweeted: “Prize winners and really spectacular folks. Few are as really good as Jimmy Carter, who at age 98 is now coming into hospice. He leaves this planet so a lot better than he discovered it. An incredible, nice, nice man.”

Carter was a little-known Georgia governor when he started his bid for the presidency forward of the 1976 election. He went on to defeat Ford, capitalizing as a Washington outsider within the wake of the Vietnam Battle and the Watergate scandal that drove Richard Nixon from workplace in 1974.

Carter served a single, tumultuous time period and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that in the end paved the way in which for his many years of world advocacy for democracy, public well being and human rights by way of The Carter Heart.

The previous president and his spouse, Rosalynn, 95, opened the middle in 1982. His work there garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

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Khan reported from Albany, New York. Related Press journalist Mark Thiessen contributed from Anchorage, Alaska.