Former President Jimmy Carter’s 28-year-old grandson, Jeremy, has died, Carter told a church gathering Sunday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The newspaper said Carter, who two weeks ago said he is now “cancer-free,” appeared at the Maranatha Baptist Church to teach his regular Sunday school class and told church members that his grandson had died a few hours before.
The cause of death was unclear. The 91-year-old former president told the church Jeremy Carter had felt unwell on Saturday and that his mother discovered his heart had stopped after he went to take a nap at his family’s home in Peachtree City, Georgia, the newspaper reported.
Officials with the Carter Center, a nonprofit founded by the former president to promote peace and health, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carter announced at the same church two weeks ago that he was cancer-free, four months after he revealed that his melanoma had spread from his liver to his brain. He continues to undergo regular treatment.
Church member Jill Stuckey told the Journal-Constitution that Jeremy Carter was a “great, fun-loving guy.”
“Life’s full of its ups and downs and the Carters aren’t immune,” the newspaper quoted her as saying.
Carter, a former peanut farmer, served as president from 1977 to 1981, losing his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. While his presidency has been derided by critics as unsuccessful, Carter has built a powerful post-White House legacy, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and staying active into his 90s working for causes such as fighting disease in Africa.