- Jimmy Carter’s parents, Lilian Gordy and James Earl Carter Sr. were married in 1923 and became parents of 4
- The former US president’s father died of pancreatic cancer in 1953 while representing Sumter County; Lilian, Jimmy’s mother died of breast cancer in 1983
- Lilian wrote two books when Jimmy Carter was serving as president
Lilian Gordy Carter and James Earl Carter Sr. are Jimmy Carter’s parents. Lilian, the mother of the 39th president of America was a nurse and a writer. On the other hand, the former president’s father was a businessman and politician who was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1952 before his demise in 1953.
Jimmy Carter’s parents were influential in their own rights and have helped immensely in the growth of the former president. Since they were involved in politics, they fashioned the younger Carter’s mind which contributed to his becoming a politician and president.
Meet the 39th US President’s Parents
Lilian Gordy Carter was a Nurse and Writer
Lilian Gordy Carter was Jimmy Carter’s mother, a nurse, and a writer. She was born Bessie Lilian Gordy on 15 August 1898, in Richland, Georgia, to a father, Jackson Gordy (1863-1948), and a mother Mary Ida Nicholson Gordon (1871-1951).
At the age of 25 in 1923, she became married to James Earl Carter, and at 26 in 1924, she had her first child, James “Jimmy” Earl Carter who became the 39th president of the United States of America from 1977 to 1981.
In the following years, she had three other children, Gloria Carter Spann (1962-1990), Ruth Carter Stapleton (1929-1983), and William Alton Carter (1937-1988).
Focusing on her career, Lilian Gordy Carter was a nurse. Her parents did not approve of her becoming a nurse, yet, she volunteered to serve as a nurse in the US Army in 1917 when she was 19 but the program was canceled.
Three years later in 1920, she became a trainee at the Wise Sanitarium, which is currently named after her.
In 1923, Jimmy Carter’s mother obtained a nursing degree from the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.
Following her spouse’s demise, she became a housemother of the Kappa Alpha Order from 1956 to 1962 at Auburn University.
More to her career, she became a Peace Corps volunteer at the age of 69 in 1966 and was sent to India where she worked at the Godrej Colony.
Moreso, at the time her eldest child, Jimmy became president, she published two books in 1977 titled Miss Lilian and Friends, and Away from Home: Letters to my Family – a book that contained her letters and her family’s while she was in India.
Beyond these and in her private life, the former nurse was known for having a cordial relationship with black people even when racism was still strong at the time. She let them enter her home through the front door rather than the back door as it was at the time.
After making her mark, she died on October 30, 1983, at the age of 85 years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Lilian Gody Carter died at Americus, Sumter County, Georgia, USA.
She was laid to rest at the Lebanon Cemetry, Plains, Sumter County, Georgia, USA.
Who’s Jimmy Carter’s Father?
James Earl Carter Sr., the father of Jimmy Carter was an American politician, businessman, farmer, and former military personnel. He was born on January 12, 1953, as the fourth of five children.
Focusing on his career, he served as a traveling salesman in Texas. He also worked in a grocery store but did not confide himself to only work for others as he ventured into business.
Also, Carter Sr. was a politician and a conservative in his political views. In 1952, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives as a Democrat. He then represented Sumter County.
Only a year after he became a representative, he died of pancreatic cancer – a disease that also killed three of his children. He died on July 22, 1953, at the age of 58.
