ST PAUL, Minnesota — Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a legacy that stretches far beyond her time as first lady.
Mrs. Carter, a champion of mental health, caregiving and women's rights, died at her home in Plains, Georgia on Sunday afternoon. She was 96. The Carter Center said she died peacefully, with family by her side.
"I grew up just admiring her, her own story. She grew up very poor. She went to college, kind of wanted to get away from the little town of Plains, Georgia. I'm not sure she ever in her wildest dreams imagined that would take her to the White House," said Chris Coleman, president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
The Carters visited Minnesota in 2010 for the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. The annual event celebrates the impact the Carters have had on Habitat for Humanity's mission around the world since 1984.
During the 2010 Carter Work Project, hundreds of volunteers came together to work on 26 homes in north Minneapolis and the east side of St. Paul.
Coleman, who was mayor of St. Paul at the time, worked on a home with the Carters.
"They were there to work. They weren't about themselves... their ego wasn't involved in this thing. They were out there to make homes happen for people," Coleman said.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity will host the 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in the fall of 2024. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will continue the Carters' legacy as hosts of the project.
"As we anticipate hosting it here in the Twin Cities next year, it is going to be bittersweet not to have Rosalynn be a part of that," Coleman said.
"Rosalynn was a national treasure and a Minnesota treasure," said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). "She was always this source of strength for him with her really quiet dignity. But she was also a national leader when it came to issues like mental health. In Minnesota we remember that that ticket was of course 'Grits and Fritz' or it was Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. But it was also Rosalynn and Joan."
Sen. Klobuchar said she became friends with the Carters through the Mondales. While running for president, the Carters invited Klobuchar to their home in Plains.
"They served pimento cheese sandwiches, she did, which are a specialty in Georgia. Not so much in Minnesota. And tomato soup," recalled Sen. Klobuchar. "He told a story about how when Jimmy Carter was interviewing people for vice president, interviewed a number of people, so many of them pronounced her name 'rahz-uh-lynn.' He said it was Walter Mondale who did his homework and said it was 'rose-uh-lynn' and it was one of the many reasons why Walter Mondale got the job."
In a statement, former President Carter said, "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me."
In 1984, Mrs. Carter visited KARE 11 while promoting her autobiography, "First Lady from the Plains" — always advocating for causes close to her heart.
After finishing her book, she told KARE 11, "I'm restless now to get involved back again with my mental health work, with women's issues, problems of the elderly, and those things that I worked on for so long."
Services and celebrations for Mrs. Carter will take place from Monday, Nov. 27 through Wed. Nov. 29 in Atlanta and Sumter County, Georgia.
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