NORTON SHORES, Mich. — The passing of former president Jimmy Carter has touched one Norton Shores man, Gary Packingham, more than most as he used to work for Carter.
From artist, to political cartoonist, Packingham has held several titles in life. He developed an interest in art when he was a young teen.
"Just was something that came along, and I didn't pursue it necessarily, but it found me, and I wound up in coming out of high school with an art scholarship to Columbus College of Art and Design," said Packingham Wednesday.
He's also a military veteran, and even spent some time as a local politician after his service.
"Uncle Sam came and drafted me into the Navy. The Navy made me a medic and sent me to the Marine Corps," Packingham said. "While I was in college in my senior year, I ran for township trustee and won by five votes. I was 27 years old, the youngest township trustee in Ohio, and that brought me to the attention of the county treasurer."
However, it's his time working for former president Jimmy Carter that he holds near and dear to his heart. It began in 1976.
"I walked down, left my job, walked down the street, was probably going to go back to school, and decided I got nothing to do. I'm going to go volunteer for Carter right now," said Packingham.
Packingham worked his way from a volunteer for Carter's local campaign in Ohio to working for his national campaign as the treasurer in Georgia.
"He was exceedingly bright and brilliant, and he was never willing to compromise his principles, but he was open to different ways to get there," Packingham said.
He described his relationship with Carter as a working one, something that made his visit to Carter's home in 1976 even more special.
"He had been out walking in the woods with Amy, and he come in, and he had his plaid shirt and jeans on and pine needles in his hair, and just a ordinary person," said Packingham. "The house was like the one I grew up in. It does nothing pretentious about it whatsoever. And as I keep saying, he was an ordinary man at all, and he was very gracious down there, not what I had seen in other politicians."
Carter may have been an ordinary person, but his extraordinary memorabilia on Packingham's walls speaks for itself.
"These are prints that were gifted to staff members. I've got letter letters from him, thanking appreciation, thank you for my service and everything," Packingham said.
Though the news of Carter's passing was anticipated, he said it doesn't make it any easier.
"You're not prepared for the emotions that just just keep rolling, because it brings back for a lot of us," added Packingham.
He said, however, that Carter will forever be a part of his own life journey.
"Jimmy Carter changed the trajectory of my life, which allowed me to influence other people in a positive way. And so his legacy will live on in ways that don't get written about or anything, but it's it happens. It's still going forward. When a man passes, his legacy continues," Packingham said.
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