Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity honors the life and legacy of President Carter

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity held a memorial service in honor of former president and Habitat for Humanity champion Jimmy Carter on Thursday.

Carter and his wife Roselyn worked extensively with the organization for decades. The two were often seen with hard hats and tools in hand at home building sites across the country. 

At the ceremony, people spoke to the impact Carter had on the organization, and those who met him shared their stories.  

Paul Stavovy met Carter while he was working for Habitat in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  

Stavovy said Carter lived his life always asking, ‘how can I help others?’  

“What impressed me the most was that he always just showed up to work. You know, he wasn’t a speech giver. He showed up and brought a briefcase, he opened it up and pulled out a hammer and got down and dirty,” Stavovy said. 

Stavovy said Carter and Rosalynn worked on houses in the same way they did everything—as a team.  

“They could have just had a press conference, but the came and they worked, and they worked for most of the day,” Stavovy recalled. “They didn’t just show up for like 15 minutes, they really enjoyed doing the work and that’s what was so inspirational about them.”  

And as Marlowe Foster with NC Habitat notes, some people even have the misconception that Carter founded Habitat for Humanity, rather than Millard and Linda Fuller.  

“That tells you how integral he’s been to the organization and to raising its presence across the globe,” Foster noted. 

Foster said he hopes future generations will remember the example of compassion carter leaves to the world.  

“Being a servant leader and really being here to serve and not be served. That’s his most important legacy,” Foster said. 

At the ceremony, attendees wrote messages about Carter’s legacy on three white doors. The doors will be available for the public to view at Cape Fear Habitat’s three local ReStores.