President Barack Obama opted to skip former first lady Nancy Reagan’s funeral on Friday, instead scheduling an appearance at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival this week.
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Reagan, who died Sunday at age 94 due to heart failure, will be buried next to her husband, conservative icon Ronald Reagan, on the grounds of the library in the city of Simi Valley near Los Angeles.
Nancy Reagan’s casket departed the funeral home on Wednesday, March 9, at 10 a.m.
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) – Three days of formal mourning for former first lady Nancy Reagan began Wednesday as her casket was taken in a police-escorted motorcade up an empty freeway for a public viewing at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Pacific (2 p.m. Eastern).
When the private service ended, House Speaker Paul Ryan bowed his head at the casket, made the sign of the cross and clasped his hands in prayer for about a minute.
John Morris, director of the Ronald W. Reagan Society at Eureka College, said, “We loved her husband, as she did, and we loved her”.
One thousand people, including First Lady Michelle Obama, former first lady and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and former president George W Bush and his wife Laura are expected to attend. My husband and I will miss her, but we feel happy that she is now joined again with her soulmate and partner in life and in love. Other guests will include Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Newt and Callista Gingrich, Anjelica Houston, Wayne Newton and Mr. T, the Ronald Reagan Foundation said Wednesday.
The mood was somber, and many people wiped away tears.
Those who came to pay their respects tended to be older, many with memories of Reagan as both president and governor of California. Public viewing was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., with shuttles carrying visitors to the library.
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The most recent first lady’s funeral was for President Gerald Ford’s widow, Betty, in 2011. The final one was Mrs. Reagan’s spokeswoman, Joanne Drake, who fought back tears.
