Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church

Former President Jimmy Carter shared somber news with his Georgia church on Sunday: his 28-year-old grandson had died just hours earlier.

The 91-year-old former President told the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., that his grandson Jeremy Carter hadn’t been feeling well and laid down to take a nap Saturday when his heart stopped, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He died early Sunday at a hospital.

After announcing the news, Carter went on to teach a Sunday school class and stayed for the full church service, according to AJC.

“I’m not surprised,” churchgoer Jan Williams told the newspaper. “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.”

The announcement comes two weeks after Carter revealed to the crowded church that he’s now cancer-free.