Family was with former president when he died
Associated Press
Published on: 06/05/04
LOS ANGELES — Ronald Reagan, the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was "morning again in America," died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
"My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers," Nancy Reagan said in a statement.
Funeral plans were to be announced Sunday morning. The Washington Post reports it will follow the model used after the 1973 death of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Nancy Reagan, along with children Ron and Patti Davis, were at the couple's Los Angeles home when Reagan died at 1 p.m. PDT of pneumonia, as a complication of Alzheimer's disease, said Joanne Drake, who represents the family. Son Michael arrived a short time later, she said.
In Paris, President Bush called Reagan's death "a sad day for America."
The U.S. flag over the White House — along with flags elsewhere — was lowered to half-staff. At ballparks and at the Belmont Stakes, there were moments of silence.
Five years after leaving office, the nation's 40th president told the world in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's, an incurable illness that destroys brain cells. He said he had begun "the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life."
A black hearse carried a flag-draped coffin from the Reagan home Saturday afternoon to a Santa Monica mortuary.
Initial plans call for Reagan's body to travel by Air Force One to Washington, where he will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The Post reported that Reagan's casket will arrive in Washington 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The former president will lie in state in the Capitol for 24 hours. In that time, the public will be allowed to enter.
Around mid-week there will be a funeral procession with horse-drawn caisson from the Capitol to a spot near the White House. From there, a hearse will carry the casket to Washington National Cathedral for a funeral officiated by the newly nominated ambassador to the United Nations, John C. Danforth, an Episcopalian minister and a former Republican senator from Missouri.
Afterward, the former president's body will be taken directly to Andrews Air Force Base and flown to California. Reagan will be buried in a wooded grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the presidential library, according to Cary Garman, chief financial officer of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
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