Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School hours after grandson's death

Jimmy Carter.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

During his regular Sunday School lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, former President Jimmy Carter shared the tragic news that his grandson had died.

Carter arrived 25 minutes after his lesson was set to begin, the first time he had ever been tardy. Carter said his grandson, 28-year-old Jeremy Carter, had gone to lie down Saturday evening because he wasn't feeling well, and when his mother checked on him, his heart had stopped, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He died Sunday at the hospital, the cause of death unclear.

Earlier this month, Carter shared good news with Maranatha, telling the congregation that doctors could not find any remaining signs of cancer on his brain. On Sunday, after discussing his grandson and some insights into his death, Carter taught his previously planned lesson. "I'm not surprised," parishioner Jan Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "That's the kind of Christian he is. Everything that happens in life, good or bad, he uses as a teaching experience. He lives his life as a lesson for other people to see."

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.