DEATH : Carter’s Sister Gloria Dies at 63

Gloria Carter Spann, the last surviving sibling of former President Jimmy Carter, died early today after suffering the same cancer that killed three other members of the family. She was 63.

Mrs. Spann’s condition had been diagnosed in December as pancreatic cancer, the same disease that killed her father, James Earl Carter; her sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton, an evangelist, and her other brother, Billy Carter.

Her mother, Lillian Carter, had breast cancer that had spread to other organs, including her pancreas, when she died in 1983.

Mrs. Spann, who had been treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta in December, died about 1 a.m. at Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, according to her husband, Walter. The former President was at the hospital when Mrs. Spann died, said Sybil Carter, the widow of Billy Carter.

“It’s very sad for all of us. It’s just something we don’t understand,” Mrs. Carter said of the cancer.

Mrs. Spann was an avid motorcyclist and belonged to the Georgia Motorcycle Rights Organization. At the time her cancer was diagnosed, she said through a spokeswoman that she and her husband planned to ride their motorcycles to Florida for the weekend.

In addition to her husband and brother, Mrs. Spann is survived by a son, William C. Spann.