The nonprofit organisation of the late US first lady Rosalynn Carter, who was married to former president Jimmy Carter, revealed that she passed away on Sunday at the age of 96 at their southern Georgia residence.
The Carter Centre released a statement saying, “Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights, passed away Sunday… at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96.”
“She died peacefully, with family by her side.”
In the statement, Jimmy Carter remarked, “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.”
READ ALSO: WHO Declares Gaza’s Main Hospital A “Death Zone”
“When I needed it, she gave me wise guidance and encouragement. The former Democratic president remarked, “I always knew somebody loved and supported me as long as Rosalynn was in the world.”
The first of four children, Rosalynn Carter, was born on August 18, 1927, in the little town of Plains. After her father passed away when she was 13 years old, she helped her mother, a dressmaker, by working alongside her.
Carter’s post-White House work is what made her most famous. She and her husband travelled the world advocating for democracy, human rights, and health issues while keeping a very low profile.
After receiving a dementia diagnosis in May, she had joined her spouse in receiving at-home hospice care on Friday.
She met Jimmy Carter in 1945 while she was in college and he was on leave from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. They married in 1946, and hold several longevity records in US politics: the longest-wed presidential couple and, for 99-year-old Jimmy Carter, the oldest living US president.
The former first lady is survived by her four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, after losing a grandson in 2015.