The former United States first lady and literacy campaigner, Barbara Bush, died at 92.
She was the matriarchal figure of a political dynasty that included two presidents – her husband, George HW Bush and son, George W Bush.
Mrs. Bush, the first lady from 1989 to 1993, was in declining health for a long time and decided to stop any additional medical treatment.
From around the US, tributes poured from the various political establishments.
The late first lady’s husband is the longest-lived US president at 93. George, the 43rd president, was elected in 2000 and served as president for two terms.
Her son said, “My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls settled because we know hers was. Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought happiness, love, and literacy to millions of people around the globe.”
Her son George added that his mother had “kept them on their toes and kept them laughing until the end. “I’m a lucky man he said, that Barbara Bush was his mother. He continued to say that his family would miss her dearly and thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers.
As the first lady, Mrs. Bush went beyond the traditional role of a political spouse, founding the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy to help parents and children from disadvantaged communities to read and write.
For those who knew Barbara Bush, she was described as a passionate advocate for civil rights and one who was not in support of several of her husband’s Republican party supporters because of her more liberal viewpoint on abortion rights issues.
Barack and Michelle Obama, in their tribute to the late former first lady, painted her “the rock of a family dedicated to public service” and as “an example of the humility and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit,” they said.
The statement, which pointed out that Mrs. Bush had chosen to decline further medical treatment after the strings of hospital visits, did not state the nature of the former first-lady ailments, except that she wanted to spend her last days in “comfort care” with her family.
Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce, the daughter of Marvin Pierce, publisher of McCall’s magazine. She grew up in Rye, New York.
The late former Barbara Bush found a husband in 1941 at a Christmas party in the State of Connecticut, and the two celebrated 73 years-wedding-anniversary in January this year.
The two had six children, including a daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953. There are also George, Dorothy, Jeb, Marvin, and Neil.
The late Barbara Bush was one of only two women whose husband and son became US president and the only one to have seen them both sworn in.
She was also the mother of Jeb Bush, who became governor of Florida and served from 1999 to 2007 and, in 2016, unsuccessfully ran for the White House. Abigail Adams was married to the second US president, John Adams, and was the mother of the sixth, John Quincy Adams, although she did not live to see their son elected.
