Zell Miller's body moved through his beloved northeast Georgia mountains to a funeral home in Cumming Friday after his death earlier in the day in his hometown of Young Harris.
Miller, a former Governor and U.S. Senator, was 86.
He died in the same mountain home where he was raised by a widowed mother who built their house with rocks pulled from a stream.
Miller served as Georgia's governor from 1991 to 1999. He came out of retirement in 2000 at age 68 to fill the final four years of a U.S. Senate term. Miller had retreated from public view in the past year after his family revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He died surrounded by three generations of family, grandson Bryan Miller said.
"We were able to spend the last 24 hours of his life with him and I can tell you that he died peacefully, comfortably surrounded by his family," Bryan Miller said.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville), who congressional district includes the mountains where Miller was born, raised and spent most of his life, said Miller shaped Georgia into one of the strongest states in the country.
"He was a national giant from northeast Georgia, and I looked up to him as a leader who never blinked in the face of a challenge or let politics eclipse his principles. I’ll always remember the ways in which he encouraged and supported me through many seasons. My family knew, admired and will miss Zell as a true man of the mountains. Our prayers are focused on his loved ones and the millions of Georgians whom he served."
The Georgia News Network is reporting Miller's body will lie in repose at the State Capitol Wednesday and his funeral will be held Thursday.
Click here to read more about Miller's life and reaction to his death.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
