Gloria Carter Spann, Ruth Carter Stapleton, and Billy Alton Carter are the siblings of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States of America. None of Jimmy’s siblings are still alive as they have all passed from pancreatic cancer. Similarly, Carter’s father, James Earl Carter Sr. died of pancreatic cancer in 1953 while his mother, Bessie Lillian Carter died of breast cancer in 1983.
Carter’s sister Ruth Carter Stapleton was a famous American Christian evangelist, whereas Gloria and Billy dabbled in and out of politics before their deaths.
Meet Jimmy Carter’s Siblings
1. Gloria Carter Spann
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Gloria Carter was born to James Earl Carter, Sr., and Lillian Gordy Carter as the second of their four children. She was 24 months younger than her brother and America’s former president, Jimmy Carter.
She had engaged in multiple campaigns for her brother before he won the presidency in 1976. Gloria, though, was most likely the sibling to avoid the spotlight while her brother was in office.
Meanwhile, Gloria was a motorcyclist and activist. She is known to have resigned from the Baptist Church that the Carters belonged to after the church voted not to lift its ban on blacks from attending.
In regard to her relationships, she got married for the first time to William Everett Hardy in 1945. William Everett (Hardy) Spann is the son of the marriage. Sadly, the marriage deteriorated and was dissolved in 1949 due to abuse. Later, in 1950, she wed Walter Guy Spann and the pair maintained their marriage for about 40 years.
In the fall of 1989, Spann was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and on March 5, 1990, she died of complications from pancreatic cancer, aged 63.
2. Ruth Carter Stapleton
Ruth Carter Stapleton, better known as Jimmy Carter’s younger sister, was a well-known Christian evangelist. She is recognized for her involvement in the healing ministry, especially in the healing of memories. Ruth has written books like The Gift of Inner Healing, The Experience of Inner Healing, and In His Footsteps: The Healing Ministry of Jesus, Then and Now. Her publications illustrate her beliefs on inner healing, which involved the healing of memories in which a person would go over their memories and bring Jesus into the memory to help them forgive or be comforted as required by Jesus.
The Christian evangelist married Robbert Thome Stapleton in 1948 and they had four children namely: Gloria Lynn, Sydney Scott, Patricia Gordy, and Robert Michael.
Ruth also died of pancreatic cancer on September 26, 1983, at the age of 54. One month after her death, her mother died of breast cancer on October 30, 1983 (aged 85).
ALSO SEE: Jimmy Carter’s Children: Who Are The Former First Kids Up To?
3. Billy Carter
Besides being Jimmy Carter’s younger brother, Billy Carter was an American farmer, businessman, brewer, and politician. He is known to have served as the official Peanut Lolita liqueur publicist in the 1970s while his brother Jimmy Carter was in the White House.
In 1955, Billy wed Sybil Spires, and the couple’s union was blessed with six children.
Carter is infamously remembered for his unusual public antics; once, he urinated in front of journalists and dignitaries on the runway of an airport. However, he later became sober and reportedly extended support to other addicts in their own recovery.
Carter endured ineffective treatment after receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in the fall of 1987. Five years after his sister Ruth Carter Stapleton’s passing, he passed away on September 25, 1988, aged 51.
