Those who knew the former president well, such as Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of the Carter family, said she will miss his – and his wife Rosalyn’s – commitment to helping others.
It’s something Ms Stuckey said the couple was committed to “until the day they passed”.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get used to a world without President Carter,” she told the BBC.
On Saturday, the cortege passed the Methodist church where the Carters were married in 1946 and the home where they lived and died.
The former president will be buried there with Rosalyn, who died in late 2023 at the age of 96.
The procession also stopped in front of Carter’s childhood home and family farm near Plains. The site is now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, which on Saturday rang the old farm bell 39 times in honor of the 39th president.
The motorcade then stopped at the Georgia State Capitol for a moment of silence led by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Those who wish will be able to visit Carter at the Presidential Library on January 5 and 6 before he leaves for Washington on January 7.
For two days, he will lie in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol, where the public can pay his respects.
His life will be honored at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9 in a service attended by several former presidents.
