AP PHOTOS: Rosalynn Carter's farewell tracing her 96 years from Plains to the world and back

AP PHOTOS: Rosalynn Carter’s farewell tracing her 96 years from Plains to the world and back

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Mourners pay their respects to former first lady Rosalynn Carter as she lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The Carter Center said she died “peacefully, with family by her side,” on Nov. 19 after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Choir members arrive to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum where former first lady Rosalynn Carter lies in repose, in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Tributes started Monday morning as Rosalynn Carter’s casket traveled by motorcade through the Carters’ native Sumter County. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Amy Carter departs after a repose service for her mother, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Her family began three days of memorials on Monday, following her death on Nov. 19 at age 96. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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A Georgia State Patrol honor guard positions the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, where members of the public paid respects as she lay in repose. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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An Armed Force body bearer team prepare to carry the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter into the Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University for a service, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A gathering of first ladies and presidents — including her 99-year-old husband Jimmy Carter — joined other political figures in tribute. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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Pallbearers move the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter through the center aisle at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and the first ladies joined Jimmy Carter and their four children in the front row, along with more than 1,000 congregants, to honor the former first lady. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Former President Jimmy Carter arrives to attend a tribute service for his wife and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. It was Jimmy Carter’s first public appearance since he entered hospice care, other than a brief ride with Rosalynn in September’s Plains Peanut Festival parade. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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A guest looks at the program for the tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. The Rosalynn married Jimmy Carter in 1946 and became the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived president; Rosalynn Carter was the second-longest lived first lady, trailing only Bess Truman. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Pastor Tony Lowden speaks during a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. The pews filled with political power players, but front and center were her children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren — all surrounding Jimmy Carter, her partner of 77 years.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Former President Jimmy Carter, center, surrounded by his children, from left, Jeff, Amy, James and Jack, attend a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. The pews filled with political power players, but front and center were her children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren — all surrounding Jimmy Carter, her partner of 77 years. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and former President Bill Clinton, arrive for a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Vice President Kamala Harris and country music star Garth Brooks embrace during a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, flanked by Trisha Yearwood and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Former first lady Laura Bush glances back during a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, as she sits with, from left, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Melania Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Vice chair of the Carter Center’s board of trustees Kathryn Cade speaks at a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool)

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Country music star Garth Brooks performs during a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Fellow Habitat for Humanity ambassadors Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood performed a rendition of “Imagine”. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Journalist Judy Woodruff pauses at the casket of first lady Rosalynn Carter, after speaking at a tribute service at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Woodruff recalled Rosalynn Carter lobbying lawmakers, campaigning separately from her husband, attending Cabinet meetings and playing key roles. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Country music star Garth Brooks and former first lady Michelle Obama embrace at the end of a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Pictured right is former first lady Melania Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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An Armed Forces body bearer team moves the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter down the center aisle at the end of a tribute service, at the Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool)

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James “Chip” Carter kisses the forehead of his father, former President Jimmy Carter, as Amy Carter watches, during a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Flowers adorn a makeshift memorial for former first lady Rosalynn Carter in front of a Christmas tree in Plains, Ga, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. The former first lady, who died Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was buried in Plains on Nov. 29, near the home she and her husband built in 1961. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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People watch the motorcade ride past to the Maranatha Baptist Church for the funeral service of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Her family and closest friends attended the intimate funeral in the same tiny town where she and Jimmy Carter were born, forever their home base as they climbed to the White House and traveled the world for humanitarian causes. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Children wave miniature American flags as they watch a motorcade ride past to the Maranatha Baptist Church for the funeral service of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Day breaks over the Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, The church, where those closest to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter bid farewell to the former first lady Wednesday, played a central role in the lives of the famous couple. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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A guest holds the funeral program for former first lady Rosalynn Carter inside the Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Georgia State Patrol honor guards stand vigil over the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. A cross former President Jimmy Carter fashioned in his wood shop serves as the principal altar ornament. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Former President Jimmy Carter greets attendees as he departs the funeral service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Amy Carter, left, and her husband John Joseph “Jay” Kelly, right, arrive for the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Pastor Tony Lowden gives the eulogy during the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Former President Jimmy Carter departs after attending the funeral service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. The former president, now 99 and in hospice care, sat in a wheelchair next to Maranatha’s front pew, wearing a dark suit and tie to say goodbye to his wife of 77 years. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Day breaks over Main Street, in Plains, Ga., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was celebrated by her family and closest friends Wednesday in Plains, the same tiny town where she and her husband, former President Jimmy Carter were born, forever their home base as they climbed to the White House and traveled the world for humanitarian causes. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter was memorialized this week with three days of public ceremonies and tributes that spanned the breadth of her long life, from her roots in Plains, Georgia, to the White House and across the world through four decades of work as a global humanitarian.

Associated Press photojournalists documented the tributes along the way.

They captured the pageantry that comes with funerals for a White House occupant, as well as the hometown adoration for a first lady who lived more than 80 of her 96 years in the same town where she was born. They captured the services that reflected her deeply held Christian faith, which her minister said she always “took outside the walls” of the church. And they reflected the grief of her 99-year-old husband, Jimmy Carter. The 39th president left home hospice care to attend public remembrances in Atlanta and Plains, visibly diminished and frail but determined to lead the nation in saying goodbye to his wife of more than 77 years.

Tributes began Monday in Americus, Georgia, with a wreath-laying ceremony on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University. That’s where Rosalynn Carter graduated in 1946 and, after her tenure as first lady, founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers to advocate for millions of Americans taking care of family members and others without adequate support.

She lay in repose Monday at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, a reflection of their term in Washington from 1977 to 1981, when she established herself as the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. Her husband spent the night steps away at The Carter Center, which they co-founded in 1982 to advocate for democracy, resolve conflict and eradicate disease in the developing nations — and for her to continue what became a half-century of advocating for better mental health treatment in America.

On Tuesday, she was honored in Atlanta at a ceremony that brought together every living U.S. first lady, President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton. They joined the Carter family, dozens of Secret Service agents and 1,000-plus other mourners for a service replete with a symphony chorus, honor guards and a grand organ.

In Plains, her intimate hometown funeral was held Wednesday at her beloved Maranatha Baptist Church, which the Carters joined when they returned to Georgia after his 1980 presidential defeat. Her family, including Jimmy, wore leis. It was a tribute to how she adored her time in Hawaii during her husband’s Navy years and how she loved learning to hula dance while there; her Secret Service code name was “Dancer.”

In a slow-moving motorcade, she was escorted one final time through Plains, past the high school where she was valedictorian during World War II, through the commercial district where she became Jimmy Carter’s indispensable partner in the peanut business, past the old train depot where she helped run his 1976 presidential campaign.

She was buried in a private ceremony on the family property, in view of the front porch of the home they built before Carter’s first political campaign in 1962.

— Associated Press national politics reporter Bill Barrow