Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady of the United States and wife of ex-President Jimmy Carter, has died at the age of 96.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Carter Center confirmed her peaceful passing with family by her side on Friday.
Mrs. Carter diagnosed with dementia in May, had entered a hospice care home in Georgia and was spending time with her 99-year-old husband, who has been in hospice care since February.
The longest-married first couple celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary in July.
Born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith on 18 August 1927, She married President Carter on 7 July, 1946, and they went on to have four children.
Throughout her husband’s political career, Mrs. Carter focused on raising awareness about mental health, advocating for reducing stigma attached to people with mental illnesses.
As first lady of Georgia she was a member of a governor’s commission to improve services for the mentally ill, and as the US First Lady she became honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, which was key to passage of a 1980 act that helped fund local mental health centres.
After leaving Washington she and her husband founded the Carter Center 1982, through which she continued her advocacy work for mental health, early childhood immunisation, human rights, conflict resolution and the empowerment of urban communities.
