Lady Bird Johnson Laid to Rest (AP)

by jordan | July 14, 2007 at 02:49 pm | 429 views | add comment

Lady Bird Johnson Processional, July 13, 2007

Update:

[Lady Bird Johnson] was buried next to her husband at a small cemetery at the LBJ Ranch, about
50 miles (80km) from Austin.

Former First Lady Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson, known her entire life as Lady Bird, is lying in repose today as thousands of mourners face the Texas summer heat to pay their respects. A former journalism student, Johnson created the Society for a More Beautiful National Capital in order to improve living conditions in Washington, DC(source).

About 2,000 guests are expected at the service at Riverbend Centre, including first lady Laura Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush; former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter; and former first lady Nancy Reagan. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President Kennedy, also was expected to attend.

Three days of ceremonies began Friday with private family prayer services, followed by a huge public outpouring. The body of the wife of former President Lyndon B. Johnson lay in repose at the LBJ Library and Museum, which was open to the public overnight.

About 10,500 people had visited the library to pay their respects, according to a family spokeswoman.

Lady Bird Johnson died Wednesday at her Austin home of natural causes.

"My mother had 94 delicious years. She lived them to the fullest," daughter Luci Baines Johnson said Friday.

Correction above, from SummerTX: "presidents are the only dignitaries who can lie in "state". Others, like Lady Bird,
lie in "repose".