The Carter Center announced that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has entered hospice care at her home in Georgia. Rosalynn Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia.
She graduated as salutatorian of Plains High School and attended Georgia Southwestern College, graduating in 1946. She married Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, in 1946.
Rosalynn Carter, 96, and “President Carter are spending time with each other and their family,” their grandson said in a statement Friday.
In May, the Carter Center said the former first lady had been diagnosed with dementia.
“She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains, and visits with loved ones,” the Carter Center said in a statement at the time.
Jimmy Carter, 99, is the oldest-living American president and the longest-living president in U.S. history. The Democrat served as president from 1977 to 1981, defeated in his bid for reelection by Ronald Reagan.
The Carters, who wed in 1946, are also the longest-married presidential couple in American history. The president told ABC News two years ago that marrying Rosalynn Carter was the “most important thing in my life.”
The couple made a rare public appearance this September, attending the Plains Peanut Festival in their Georgia hometown.
The Carters have four children: three sons and one daughter. They are also the grandparents of 12 (one deceased) and great-grandparents to 14 children, according to the Jimmy Carter Library.
