Carter, the longest living former president, celebrates 97th birthday

Former President Carter, the oldest living president, will mark his 97th birthday Friday.

Carter plans to spend his birthday quietly at his home in Georgia and will not make any public appearances, Deanna Congelio, the press secretary at the Carter Center in Atlanta, told ABC.

Employees at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Ga., the former president’s hometown, recorded birthday greetings from him, ABC reported. The Carter Center’s website shared an online birthday card that members of the public can sign.  

Messages had already poured in for the digital birthday card by early Friday morning. Most didn’t even note Carter’s presidency but focused on his work in later years including his volunteering, advocacy and years of teaching Sunday school, ABC noted. 

Carter was diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his liver and brain in 2015 but underwent treatment and soon after announced that he was cancer-free. 

Carter’s birthday comes as the family prepares for the funeral of the former president’s daughter-in-law, Annette Davis Carter, who died earlier this month at age 68, according to ABC.