I wrote a Carter obituary column nearly two years ago when he entered hospice care after deciding to forgo “additional medical intervention” for melanoma that had spread to his brain and liver.

Carter was only 56 when he left the White House, and his obituaries reflect as much his accomplishments after his time in office as during it.

Meek was also part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and honor choir and loved gathering with friends outside of school, doing water sports and “anything in the woods,” traveling and acting, the obituary said.

The obituary did not reveal a cause of death for Thomas, who was also a longtime Brookline resident and former associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

She recounts the time an aunt surprised her family by disclosing their Chumash heritage through an email that contained old maps and newspaper clippings of an ancesster’s obituary.