--- title: Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church description: Former President Jimmy Carter shared somber news with his Georgia church that his 28-year-old grandson had died just hours earlier canonical: https://time.com/4156425/jimmy-carter-grandson-church/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-20T21:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:00:26.616Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church og:description: Then he went on to teach a Sunday school class. og:url: https://time.com/4156425/jimmy-carter-grandson-church/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7008ac72d1c2db68/69887644cf40a82ee8c412d3/jimmy-carter-chirch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Former President Jimmy Carter prays during Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Plains, Ga. A recent MRI showing no cancer on Jimmy Carter's brain is "very positive" news for the former president but og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church twitter:description: Then he went on to teach a Sunday school class. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7008ac72d1c2db68/69887644cf40a82ee8c412d3/jimmy-carter-chirch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 20, 2015 9:00 PM UTC  Former President Jimmy Carter prays during Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Dec. 13, 2015. Former President Jimmy Carter prays during Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Dec. 13, 2015.Branden Camp—AP  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 20, 2015 9:00 PM UTC Former President Jimmy Carter [shared somber news with his Georgia church on Sunday: his 28-year-old grandson had died](http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/hours-after-grandsons-death-jimmy-carter-teaches-s/npn6n/) 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](http://time.com/4137812/jimmy-carter-cancer-free/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4156425/jimmy-carter-grandson-church/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4156425/jimmy-carter-grandson-church/"},"headline":"Jimmy Carter Announces Grandson’s Sudden Death at Church","datePublished":"2015-12-20T21:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:00:26.616Z","description":"Then he went on to teach a Sunday school class","url":"https://time.com/4156425/jimmy-carter-grandson-church/","keywords":["georgia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7008ac72d1c2db68/69887644cf40a82ee8c412d3/jimmy-carter-chirch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7008ac72d1c2db68/69887644cf40a82ee8c412d3/jimmy-carter-chirch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former President Jimmy Carter prays during Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Plains, Ga. 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