Mt. Lebanon family who became close with Jimmy Carter during the 1976 campaign reflects on his life
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Former President Jimmy Carter is now receiving hospice care at his home, an end-of-life form of care to relieve pain and discomfort.
As KDKA political editor Jon Delano reports, one Pittsburgh family, in particular, developed strong ties to Carter when the then-governor of Georgia decided to run for president.
When Gov. Jimmy Carter posted a picture of Martin Luther King in the Georgia state House, it struck a chord with Howard Lupovitz, a furrier from Mt. Lebanon, recalls his son Andrew.
"The first time a southern governor had done such a thing, and my dad found it so remarkably moving that he reached out to the Carter campaign and asked what he could do to help," says Lupovitz.
That was two years before the 1976 presidential race.
Having no connections in Pittsburgh at the time, the Carter campaign responded quickly.
"They hadn't heard from anybody in western Pennsylvania, so they said, 'well, we'll make you the western Pennsylvania campaign coordinator,' and that's how that got started."
Andrew, a teenager, got to know Jimmy Carter in the run-up to the campaign both as a high school volunteer and a driver to the little-known nuclear engineer and peanut farmer from Georgia.
"Met him many times. He would come into Pittsburgh, and since there was not a lot of interest or knowledge really at that time of his campaign -- the local Democratic party really didn't have a horse in that race at that time -- so he would come in, and he would speak at very small gatherings. Didn't have any secret service, one or two staff members," recalls Andrew.
Andrew's mom – Sally Lupovitz, who was involved in local Democratic politics – became a Carter delegate, and the Lupovitz home on Folkstone Drive in Mt. Lebanon became a hotel for members of the Carter family and campaign staff.
The Carters never forgot the hospitality.
"As a family that hosted one of the Carter family, we were invited to a special breakfast the day after the inauguration in Washington. We went to the White House, got to see everybody, the whole family, the president, the first lady."
And Andrew – then a Mt. Lebanon High School senior – says President Carter recognized him right away, calling out his name while in the receiving line.
"President Carter saw me a couple of people down in the line and called out my name. And my brother who was standing behind me was just dumbstruck."
Now as the 39th president approaches his death, Lupovitz reflects, "He was just a remarkably decent human being. He had a presence about him that was very different."
"Jimmy Carter was very famous for the smile. And he would look you dead in the eye, and he would talk to you – at my age, I was again a teenager – like an adult having an adult conversation."
Lupovitz echos what many have said about Carter's 40-plus years of post-presidency in service to others, not aggrandizing wealth for himself.
"It doesn't surprise me anything he's done in his post-presidency. That's who he is at his core. He's so dedicated to serving others," says Lupovitz.
"I've always been so proud that I at least knew him for a few years during his life, and that he was our president, and that this is the example that he would set. I think that he is just a remarkably good role model."
Historians and the public have not been kind to his presidency, but very few have criticized this Sunday schoolteacher's post-presidency, one of only four presidents to win the Nobel peace prize.
