Former US Mint Superintendent Shelley Bay Expresses Thanks to Jimmy Carter

FORT WORTH, TX (CBSDFW.COM) – Following news of former President Jimmy Carter’s entry hospice careone of his earlier appointees reflects on the impact he had on his life.

On Sunday, retired Fort Worth businessman and coach Shally Bay shared his story of how a former president named him the first black and youngest ever Governor of the US Mint. He was only 26 years old.

New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, Fort Worth City Council, and State Representative Nicole Collier honored him for this achievement several years ago.

Pastor Kyiv Tatum said Bey wanted to share his experience with the former president to express his gratitude.

“I want the world to know what a great man President Jimmy Carter was,” he said.

Other North Texas residents also shared Carter’s influence in their lives.

IN 2014At the age of 90, former President and First Lady Rosalynn Carter chose North Texas as the location for her Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Habitat for Humanity International project.

Wearing a red bandana and tool belt, Carter worked alongside hundreds of volunteers in Dallas and Fort Worth to help build 50 homes for the needy.

The Wills were among many who received a home through this effort.

“They had houses on this street numbered one through ten, and ours was number one, and they called it the Carter House because President Carter himself worked on it,” said Jacqueline Wills.

She said she was grateful to Habitat for Humanity and the Carters for their work.

“It was a humiliating experience, but we are honored that he and his wife are working here with us,” Wills said. “I will never forget this and will be in full debt to him for the rest of my life.”

Carter, a Democrat, became the 39th President of the United States when he defeated President Gerald R. Ford in 1976. He served one term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Last year, the Carter Center, established by a former president and first lady after their first terms in the White House, celebrated 40 years of promoting democracy, election monitoring and improving public health in the developing world.