HOUSTON (AP) – The Latest on the funeral and burial of former first lady Barbara Bush (all times local): 6 p.m. Former President George H…
HOUSTON (AP) – The Latest on the funeral and burial of former first lady Barbara Bush (all times local):
6 p.m.
Former President George H. W. Bush is honoring his wife’s work promoting literacy with a subtle fashion statement: socks covered in books.
The nation’s 41st president attended his wife’s funeral on Saturday in a dark suit and black shoes. But peeking out in between were knitted stacks of blue, red and yellow books.
Family spokesman Jim McGrath tweeted a photo of the former president’s attire. He says Bush wanted to honor his wife’s commitment to family literacy during her life.
McGrath says Barbara Bush “raised over $110 million over the course of 30 years” for literacy programs.
The former president is known for wearing colorful socks. He and his wife had been married for 73 years when she died on Tuesday at age 92.
___
3:30 p.m.
A funeral procession has entered the campus of Texas A&M University for the burial of former first lady Barbara Bush.
The motorcade left Houston following a private funeral attended by roughly 1,500 people at the church she and her husband, former President George H. W. Bush, regularly attended. He was among four former U. S. presidents at the service.
Hundreds of people lined streets as more than a dozen vehicles in the procession slowly wound their way from the nation’s largest Episcopal church in Houston to the campus in College Station, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) away.
The university is home to George H. W. Bush’s presidential library. Barbara Bush will be buried in a gated plot near the grave of their 3-year-old daughter, Robin. She died of leukemia in 1953.
___
2:45 p.m.
A funeral procession is making its way to Texas A&M University for the burial of former first lady Barbara Bush.
Roughly 1,500 people attended a private funeral Saturday in Houston for the wife of former President George H. W. Bush. He was among four former U. S. presidents at the service.
Barbara Bush will be laid to rest in a gated plot at her husband’s presidential library at the university in College Station, Texas. The couple’s daughter Robin is also buried there. She was 3 when she died of leukemia in 1953.
Hundreds of people are lining both sides of the street near where the procession with turn to enter campus.
Several dozen people are watching from a parking garage across the street from the university’s football and baseball stadiums, which are draped in a large American flag and a Texas flag.
___
12:30 p.m.
Barbara Bush’s casket has been wheeled out of the Houston church where hundreds of people came to offer their final respects during her funeral.
Eight of her grandsons served as pallbearers. Behind them, her husband and former President George H. W. Bush followed in his wheelchair, which was pushed by their son, former President George W. Bush.
As he was pushed down the walkway in the church, George H. W. Bush shook hands with some of the people who were in the pews. In his lap, he carried his glasses and a copy of the funeral program.
Mourners sang “Joyful, joyful, we adore thee” as the family left the nation’s largest episcopal church.
Burial will follow at the Bush Library in College Station, Texas.
She will be buried next to their 3-year-old daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953
___
12:15 p.m.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush joked how his mother called her style of mothering him and his siblings “a benevolent dictatorship – but honestly it wasn’t always benevolent.”
Bush delivered a eulogy during the funeral for former first lady Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday at age 92.
He emphasized how one of the most important lessons she taught him and others was the power of laughter and that joy should be shared.
He choked up at one point, saying his mother – who was known for her self-deprecating remarks about her wrinkles and gray hair – was “beautiful” until the very end.
Bush said he felt priviliged that he had a “front row” seat to the incredible love story that his parents shared.
___
12 p.m.
Barbara Bush’s longtime friend Susan Baker says the former first lady was “the secret sauce of this extraordinary family.”
Baker is the wife of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. She gave a eulogy during Bush’s funeral on Saturday at the Houston church where Barbara Bush and her husband, former President George H. W. Bush, regularly worshipped.
Baker called Barbara Bush an “amazing and beautiful friend,” recalling how Bush helped her settle in when she first moved to Washington, D. C.
Baker emphasized Barbara Bush’s kindness, compassion and ability to make others feel welcomed.
Baker said her friend’s motivation to help others was “never about herself” but rather about giving support to others in need. Baker said Barbara Bush was “the gold standard about what it meant to be a friend”
___
11:45 a.m.
Historian Jon Meacham says Barbara Bush is the “first lady of the greatest generation.”
Meacham spoke to hundreds of people attending the funeral Saturday for the former first lady in Houston.
He said in his eulogy that the wife of the 41st president and the mother of the 43rd was “candid and comforting, steadfast and straightforward, honest and loving.”
Meacham recalled her work bringing awareness to AIDS patients and in promoting literacy. He also spoke of her quick wit that made her so popular.
Meacham said she was devoted to her husband of 73 years, saying former President George H. W. Bush was the “only boy she ever kissed.”
Meacham wrote a 2015 biography of George H. W. Bush, who is attending the service along with many members of his family and three other former presidents. His granddaughters are providing readings during the service and his grandsons are serving as pallbearers.
___
11 a.m.
Former President George H. W. Bush has arrived with his family at the funeral for his wife of 73 years, former first lady Barbara Bush.
The former president was helped in with a wheelchair behind his sons, former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and other Bush relatives.
Also now seated in the front of the church, in the same pew, are two other former presidents – Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – along with their wives and current first lady Melania Trump.
President Donald Trump isn’t attending the service but released a statement saying his “thoughts and prayers” are “with the entire Bush family.”
About 1,500 people are expected at the private service Saturday at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. Barbara Bush and her husband regularly worshipped at the church, which is the largest Episcopal church in the country.
___
10:30 a.m.
Guests arriving for the funeral for former first lady Barbara Bush are starting to fill the nation’s largest Episcopal church, embracing and talking beneath the church’s cavernous sanctuary.
