Ex-first lady Barbara Bush remembered
>> HOUSTON: Thousands of people gathered on Friday to pay respect to Barbara Bush, wife of the nation’s 41st president and mother of the nation’s 43rd.
Among them was Houston social worker Varney Johnson, who like other mourners said he wanted to honour her work supporting literacy. “This woman dedicated her life to educating children’’, he said.
Barbara and George H W Bush were married longer than any other presidential couple when she died on Tuesday at their home in Houston. One of just two first ladies to have a child elected president, Barbara Bush was widely admired for her plainspoken style and her advocacy for causes including literacy and Aids awareness.
A hearse containing the former first lady’s casket arrived before daybreak at St Martin’s, which is the nation’s largest Episcopal church. Her body was to be in repose from noon until midnight. A spray of dozens of roses covered the closed lightcoloured metallic casket.
The 93-year-old former president arrived at the church shortly after the viewing opened, accompanied by daughter Dorothy Bush Koch. He hadn’t been scheduled to visit, but he decided to go after watching video from the church, said family spokesman Jim McGrath. Mr Bush shook dozens of hands and stayed for about 15 minutes.
“I think he was very touched by all of the people who were taking the time out of their lives,’’ Mr McGrath said. “It was just a natural inclination for him’’.
Lucy Orlando was one of the more than 100 people in line well before bus services began from a separate location to the church. Originally from Haiti, the 74-yearold Orlando had travelled from Weston, Florida, and said she has admired Barbara Bush for years, including for her work promoting literacy.
“She was a very sweet lady and she loves people,’’ said Ms Orlando, who was carrying a grey suitcase containing framed photos of the couple and members of their family, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former President George W Bush and his wife, Laura.
Barbara Bush’s funeral was held yesterday behind her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University, about 160 kms northwest of Houston. The burial site is near a creek where the couple’s three-yearold daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953, is buried.
Barbara Bush had selected son Jeb to deliver a eulogy.