FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER left a strong impression on the people, including Silicon Valley leaders who spent time with him during his decades of social justice work post-presidency.
Carter died on Dec. 29, 2024, at age 100. Since his death, Silicon Valley leaders have reflected on a 2013 visit from Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, with Habitat for Humanity.
The Carters championed the social services organization and spent years helping build affordable housing for families in need. The East Bay/Silicon Valley branch of Habitat for Humanity is hosting a memorial for Carter on Thursday — designated as a national day of mourning — at San Jose City Hall’s East Plaza from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy at the Washington National Cathedral in D.C.
“The Carters were just so real, and so there was such affection for them,” Michael Fox Jr., former CEO of Goodwill Silicon Valley, told San José Spotlight. “It had nothing to do with, ‘He’s the president of the U.S. and she’s the first lady.’ … It was genuine.”
Fox met Carter in 2013 at a fundraising dinner for Habitat for Humanity hosted by his father, Michael Fox Sr., at their family home in Saratoga. The Carters were in the Bay Area for multiple projects with the nonprofit, including community improvements near Lake Cunningham Park in East San Jose. The Carters helped build shade structures at the park and renovate 10 homes for low-income homeowners.
Fox said he introduced himself before others at the dinner party “mobbed” the Carters, clamoring for a conversation with the former president. Watching how the couple interacted with others was inspiring, Fox said.
“They were the most gracious, down to earth people you’ve ever met,” he told San José Spotlight.
‘He was just a deep guy’
State Sen. Dave Cortese, then a Santa Clara County supervisor, sat next to Carter at the dinner party, along with his wife Pattie, who is now an East Side Union High School District trustee.
Dave Cortese said talking with Carter at the dinner party felt more like talking to a religious figure in how he showed vulnerability.
“Jimmy Carter was not superficial, I doubt he was ever superficial,” Cortese told San José Spotlight. “He was just a deep guy, the kind of person that if you wanted to put a picture next to the word sincerity in the dictionary, you would put his picture there. … It’s easy to open up to someone like that.”
Throughout the dinner, Pattie Cortese, who holds a master’s degree in interfaith studies, talked with Carter about spirituality and his work teaching Bible studies in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. She said she looked up to the couple for the work they’d done since Carter’s presidency. It empowered her to work on issues that reflected her own faith and beliefs, such as working with incarcerated people.
“Some people could be president and then just retire and enjoy their life, and I’m not saying he didn’t enjoy his life, but their work was clearly a ministry,” she told San José Spotlight. “They stayed active in that until they literally could not anymore.”
Rosalynn Carter died in 2023 at the age of 96.
“Some people could be president and then just retire and enjoy their life. … They stayed active in (volunteer work) until they literally could not anymore.” Pattie Cortese
That hands-on work ethic also inspired former San Jose Vice Mayor Rose Herrera, who met Carter the day after the dinner party while the couple worked on projects at and around Lake Cunningham Park. She was inspired to see the Carters working on the buildings, not just attending for a photo opportunity. She remembered being surprised to see singers Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks there — also ready to work on the project. It impressed her that these celebrities were also dedicated to the work they were doing.
“What (Carter) cared about was work and doing that work and doing things for the community, that was really what he was about. He was the real deal,” Herrera told San José Spotlight.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.