Why these folks from Columbus drove to Plains for Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in Georgia

Plains, Ga. - In this city of less than a square mile, several sites are named for former President Jimmy Carter or one of his relatives. There’s a national historical park, a rehabilitation center, a softball field, a gas station and, of course, a peanut warehouse.

And the site in Plains, Georgia, honoring the former first lady is called the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. It was established a decade ago after she learned that growing native plants could help boost the threatened monarch population.

Butterflies fittingly symbolize Carter. She metamorphosed from a shy homemaker into a savvy manager for the family business and an astute campaigner for her husband. Then she became an influential adviser for her husband when he was governor and president. Ultimately, she became a transformative public figure as a leading advocate for mental health services, care giving, human rights, housing, democracy, and conflict resolution.

With family by her side, Carter peacefully died at home in Plains on Nov 19, two days after she entered hospice care for the final stage of her life. She was 96.

The former president, 99, began receiving in-home hospice care in February.

Wednesday, among the several hundred folks lining the streets of Plains, there was Laura Walker, former chairwoman of the Muscogee County Democratic Committee.

Walker made the one-hour drive from Columbus to watch part of the one-mile procession after the invitation-only funeral service. It stretched from Maranatha Baptist Church, where the Carter family worships, to the Carter family home on Woodland Drive, where she privately was interred.

Walker, 59, felt compelled to be in Plains for this momentous moment.

“It’s part of history,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “If I can witness it and pay tribute to her by being one of the numbers, then that’s something that’s important to me.”

And she was not deterred by the road block that public safety officers set up on Route 280 a few miles outside of Plains while the procession drove from the Carter home to the church.

“They didn’t tell us why,” she said. “They just told us we couldn’t get in, that Plains was closed. I looked at my friends and said, ‘There’s got to be a different way.’ We just kept trying different roads in, and eventually we were let in.”

Walker sees the arc of Carter’s life as analogous to a butterfly – and an inspiration for others.

“She transformed from such humble beginnings,” Walker said. “It means that we all have lots of room in our lives to transform as well.”

Walker lauded Rosalynn’s advocacy for caregivers, elevating the personal issue to a national level.

“It’s something so niche, but it seems to speak to her character,” she said. “… She was a wonderful example of someone who got a lot done and was very important but was very quiet and graceful and gracious in doing it. She also was someone who was very tough but didn’t act tough. She lived the values she talked about.”

‘Her own woman’

Along with Walker were fellow Columbus residents Patricia Lassiter and David Smith.

Lassiter, 59, is director of party affairs for the Democratic Party of Georgia. She came to Plains “to say goodbye (to Carter) and bless you and we love you,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Lassiter praised Carter for standing up for what she thought was right.

“She was always her own woman,” Lassiter said. “And we needed to see that in the late Seventies and the Eighties. (Women) were supposed to stand in the back. She never really stood in the back. Anything she needed to get done, she got done. I think that’s her legacy. … She actually changed the office of the first lady, having her own staff and department and all that.”

Smith, 26, is impressed by the positive impact the Carters made after they left the White House.

“They only served one term, but they showed they were public servants at heart,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “… They did so much for the world, with (eradicating) guinea worm and with so many other things. When they got knocked down, they got right back up and made the world a better place. They’re just an inspiration on a personal level for me. … They showed us public service doesn’t stop when you’re out of the limelight.”

‘Welcomed us to the community’

Philip Kurland, owner of the Plains Trading Post on Main Street, bills his shop as the nation’s largest political memorabilia dealer. Wearing a pin declaring, “We love you, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter,” he recalled meeting the Carters 30 years ago when he and his wife, Ramona, were rushing to open their business in time for the Plains Peanut Festival.

Kurland said to his wife, “I wonder if the Carters really live here.”

And that’s when the Carters walked into the store.

“They welcomed us to the community,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “Not just a welcome but also hugs, how happy they were to see us and that we moved here.”

A few days later, Kurland received a gift from Rosalyn: some sweets and donated political memorabilia.

“She came in a while later,” he recalled with a smile, “and she said I know you’re going to sell (the memorabilia), but I want you to have them.”

Kurland often saw the Carters at community events, acting like and being accepted as just citizens of Plains.

“I mean, you couldn’t go to a meeting without the Carters being there, being involved,” he said. “They interacted with everyone.”

Kurland noted Rosalyn was “extremely blunt” but polite.

“It doesn’t matter what party you are,” he said. “She wanted you to be a decent person. … She wanted to help everyone, especially the underprivileged, the downtrodden. … She was full of love, as simple as that.”

‘Part of something greater than ourselves’

Brinson Brock, agriculture instructor and Future Farmers of America chapter adviser at Sumter County Middle School, sat along the procession route with 15 students. He met Carter while helping his students work on the butterfly trail honoring her. They grew flowers to help beautify the Carter family home — and flowers to help beautify the funeral.

“Golly,” Brock told the Ledger-Enquirer as he marveled at his students’ connection to history. “We are part of something greater than ourselves.”

And he wanted his students to be at the procession to witness more history.

“This is real life,” he said. “It shows them how the world views the importance of this occasion. It teaches them to pay respect when respect is due.”

Brock explained the life lesson the Carters exemplify for his students: “We can be anything we want to be. We just have to prepare ourselves, educate ourselves and work hard, and we can succeed as they did.”

Faith Cromer, 13, a Sumter County Middle School seventh-grader, never met Carter, but she understands the former first lady’s direct significance in her life.

“She helped the FFA,” Faith told the Ledger-Enquirer. “That made us look up to her and follow our dreams and stuff. … She was like a normal citizen, but then she grew to have a butterfly trail named after her.”

‘She always will be here’

Marion Hawk, 75, a lifelong resident of Plains, stood along the barricade as the funeral procession passed by. She came to say farewell to a friend.

Hawk recalled Carter being “very gifted” and active in many causes but always stopped to chat when they saw each other in town.

“She would give you some good advice,” Hawk, who volunteered for 31 years at the nursing home named in honor of Lillian Carter, mother of the 39^th president, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “She used to tell me to take my time and not worry about life.”

Hawk called the funeral “the biggest thing that’s happened in Plains since Jimmy was elected president (in 1976). So I wanted to be here today. … She’s a beautiful memory. She always will be here.”