Former First Lady Nancy Reagan Dead At Age 94

Former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, wife of former President Ronald Reagan, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at her home in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman Joanne Drake said. President Reagan died in 2004.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation immediately released this statement:

Nancy Davis Reagan, former First Lady of the United States, died this morning at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 94. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. Mrs. Reagan will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, next to her husband, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004. Prior to the funeral service, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to pay their respects at the Library. Details will be announced shortly.

In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Reagan requested that contributions be made to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation at www.reaganlibrary.com.

For continuous information on the week’s events, please visit the Reagan Library’s web site at www.reaganlibrary.com. A biography of Nancy Reagan is attached.

Also, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama released this statement:

“Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House. She was right, of course. But we had a head start, because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example, and her warm and generous advice.

Our former First Lady redefined the role in her time here. Later, in her long goodbye with President Reagan, she became a voice on behalf of millions of families going through the depleting, aching reality of Alzheimer’s, and took on a new role, as advocate, on behalf of treatments that hold the potential and the promise to improve and save lives.

We offer our sincere condolences to their children, Patti, Ron, and Michael, and to their grandchildren. And we remain grateful for Nancy Reagan’s life, thankful for her guidance, and prayerful that she and her beloved husband are together again.”