'Finest man that ever served': Mourners react to loss and legacy of Jimmy Carter
Hundreds of mourners from throughout the U.S. lined streets, placed flowers and offered their thoughts on the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter on Saturday.
Funeral services for Carter, who died Dec. 29, essentially started Saturday at his home in Plains, Georgia. A procession to Atlanta followed for a moment of silence at the state Capitol Building and then onto a service at the Carter Presidential Center, where Carter will lie in repose until Tuesday.
Carter's remains then will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a services and to lie in state until Thursday. He then returns to Plains for a funeral service at his longtime place of worship, Maranatha Baptist Church, and a final procession to his home for interment.
Here's what mourners said about the former Georgia governor and 39th president of the United States:
"I think he was the finest man that ever served in office." − Randy Fenley, who traveled from Macon, Georgia for the funeral procession.
“I started researching presidents, senators and representatives, and Jimmy Carter stuck out to me, not as a politician, but as a human. When you look at Jimmy Carter, you don’t see a politician, you see a great human, and a friend in all of us.” − London Wollenweber, a high school student from Bloomington Illinois visiting Plains for Carter's funeral procession.
Among the many notes left at the Carter Center in Atlanta was one signed by a 7-year-old named Stella, who thanked the president for “fighting for equal rights and world peace.” A pink Care Bear laid beside the note.
Jimmy Carter left marks figuratively and literally in office while he was Georgia's governor from 1971 to 1975. Carter started the tradition, upheld by every executive since, of signing the inside of the middle drawer of the governor's desk. Carter's is the only signature in pencil.
“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." − Keaymonda Hollis, who grew up in Plains, said his grandfather was close friends with Carter at children.
“Uncle Jimmy became governor, and one Thanksgiving, he said, ‘I’ve got to tell y’all something.' He said, ‘I’m gonna run for president,’ and my dad said, ‘President of what?’ and he said, ‘The United States.' And then we laughed and kept just fixing our plates.” − LeAnne Smith, a Plains, Georgia local and Jimmy Carter’s niece.
− Reporter Melissa Cruz contributed to this story.