Public heads to Reagan Library to pay respects

by Michele Willer-Allred and Cheri Carlson

Ventura County Star-March 6, 2016

Kim Less drove from Santa Clarita to the Reagan Library
in Simi Valley Sunday, after hearing Nancy Reagan had
died.
But the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum
was closed because of her death, and Less and her family and many others – were turned away. Instead, some left
flowers or notes near a sign at the bottom of the hill that
winds up toward the library.
“I just loved her, and I loved the president,” Less said,
stopping at the makeshift memorial.
Honoring The First Lady
Officials said they will post information on the library’s
closure, the funeral, and how the public can pay respects
to Nancy Reagan as it becomes available at
www.ReaganLibrary.com.
To send a condolence messages go to the library
foundation website a
http://www.reaganfoundation.org/nancy-memorial.aspx.
Those who had purchased tickets to see the Vatican
exhibit can either get refunds or see the exhibit on another
day, when the library reopens.
Simi Valley Police Department has asked motorists to
avoid Madera Road near Presidential Drive, due to heavy
traffic because of funeral and other burial preparations.
People stopped by throughout the day. Some dropped off
bunches of flowers, a few with handwritten notes. Others
came and took a photo, or just stopped for a minute or
two.
“I adored Ronald Reagan. He seemed to love us, and she
was so protective of him,” Less said. “We couldn’t be there
to take care of him when he was getting older. But she
was there for him.”
She heard of Nancy Reagan’s death on the radio. Later, at
church, she had tears in her eyes as the congregation
sang “Amazing Grace.”
“I thought, you know, the long road is over and she’s back
with her husband now,” Less said.
Nancy Reagan died early Sunday morning of congestive
heart failure at her home in Bel Air. She was 94.
The library will remain closed to the public until after
Nancy Reagan’s funeral, officials said. A date has yet to
be announced.
John Heubusch, executive director of Ronald Reagan
Presidential Foundation, said he recently spoke to the
former first lady, who had remained an active board
member with the Reagan Foundation until her death.
She had written to the archdiocese to ask for support for
the Vatican exhibit, which had been set to open Sunday.
Her last appearance at the Reagan Library was in June,
when she visited her husband’s grave on the anniversary
of his death.
“We’ve lost an extraordinary asset and incredible human
being in the last several hours,” Heubusch said Sunday
morning. “I think the U.S., the nation, and its people owe a
debt of gratitude to a woman who stood by her husband
and was a pillar of strength for him.”
Sunday was supposed to be the opening of one of the
library’s largest exhibits called “Vatican Splendors.”
Some showed up early Sunday to see the historical and
religious artifacts. Instead, they learned that Nancy
Reagan had died.
“I’m deeply saddened. It’s an end to an era,” Carol
Anderson, 62, of Moorpark, who placed flowers at the
entrance of the library Sunday morning.
From the side of road, Andy Hall, 48, of Simi Valley,
waved a large flag in remembrance of the former first lady.
An Army veteran, Hall said he paid his respects at the
library when Ronald Reagan died, and wanted to do the
same for Nancy Reagan.
“I just have a lot of respect for Ronald and Nancy
Reagan,” Hall said.
Later in the day, Heather McCullough stopped by, saying
she came for her family. She grew up hearing her parents
talk about the Reagans, she said.
“The Reagan years were the best years – that’s what they
always said,” she said about her parents, who live in New
Mexico.
“My dad wished he could have been here today,” she said.
McCullough chose a mismatched bouquet of roses.
Different colors and different types of roses seemed the
best fit for a woman who she said was impossible to
describe with just one word and wore many different hats.
Linda Kepler, of Simi Valley, said the same moment kept
replaying in her mind all day, since she had heard Nancy
Reagan died.
It wasn’t the one time she had seen Nancy Reagan in
person at a library event, said Kepler, who carefully placed
two large bouquets against the library sign.
Instead, it was when Kepler had watched television
coverage of Ronald Reagan’s funeral.
“She was holding it together so well,” Kepler said of the
former first lady. But then, as Nancy Reagan stood next to
her husband’s coffin, she dropped her head and began
crying.
Kepler remembered wishing for family members to rush to
Nancy Reagan’s side, which they did. “I just wanted
somebody to be there for her,” she said.
At the top of the hill Sunday, media from around the world
gathered outside the library.
Melissa Giller, a Reagan Library spokeswoman, said
funeral invitations likely would be sent on Monday.
“It’s a really sad day,” said Giller, who called Nancy
Reagan “a guiding force of the Reagan Library for the past
15 years.”
When Ronald Reagan died in 2004, funeral services were
held both in Washington, D.C. and Simi Valley.
“Mrs. Reagan’s service will only be here at the Reagan
Library,” Giller said. “This is where dignitaries and VIPs
will need to come if they want to pay their respects.”
Heubusch said there also will be an opportunity for the
public to come pay their respects to Nancy Reagan, who
will lie in repose in a closed casket in the lobby.
The funeral will most likely be Friday or Saturday, and
large crowds are expected, Heubusch said.
“She’ll be laid to rest next to the president, facing west,”
Heubusch said.