Rosalynn Carter dies aged 96: Ex-First Lady and wife of Jimmy Carter passes away two days after she entered hospice care and six months after dementia diagnosis

Rosalynn Carter dies aged 96: Ex-First Lady and wife of Jimmy Carter passes away day two days after she enter hospice care and six months after dementia diagnosis.

The veteran women's rights campaigner was married to the President Carter for 77 years and died at 2.10pm with her family at her side at her home in Plains, Georgia, the Carter Center said.

She is survived by her children — Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy — and 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. A grandson died in 2015. 

'Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,' President Carter, 99, said this afternoon. 

'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.'

'Besides being a loving mother and extraordinary First Lady, my mother was a great humanitarian in her own right,' said he son Chip Carter. 

'Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today.'

She and President Carter, 99, were 'spending time together,' in their final days her family said. 

The president has been in hospice care at their home in Georgia for several months. 

They are the longest married couple in U.S. presidential history, meeting when Jimmy was just three years old and Rosalynn was a newborn. 

They celebrated their 77nd wedding anniversary on July 7, 2023. 

The couple first dated in 1945. A then 20-year-old Jimmy was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and stole a kiss from Rosalynn on their first date. 

He later told his mother he wanted to marry her.

Jimmy told People in 2015 that marrying her was the 'best thing I ever did,' describing their partnership as the 'pinnacle' of his life. 

Ahead of their 75th wedding anniversary in 2021 he said 'My biggest secret is to marry the right person if you want to have a long-lasting marriage'. 

'Every day there needs to be reconciliation and communication between the two spouses,' he added, explaining that he and Rosalynn, both devout Christians, read the Bible together aloud each night - something they had done for years, even when separated by their travels.

'We don't go to sleep with some remaining differences between us.'

Rosalynn was diagnosed with dementia in May - three months after her husband entered hospice care at their Georgia home.

'Mrs. Carter has been the nation’s leading mental health advocate for much of her life,' the Carter Center said at the time. 

'First in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, then in the White House, and later at The Carter Center, she urged improved access to care and decreased stigma about issues surrounding mental health.

'One in 10 older Americans have dementia, a condition that affects overall mental health. We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support.

'As the founder of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Mrs. Carter often noted that there are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers; those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.'

Senate leader Chuck Schumer was among the first to pay tribute on X, formerly Twitter, saying she 'dedicated her life to serving others'. 

'America has lost a passionate humanitarian and champion for people all over the world,' he added, 'My heart goes out to her entire family.' 

The Carter Center has set up an online condolence book and said a schedule of memorial events and funeral ceremonies will be published as soon as possible.