A local funeral home is featuring a guestbook today and tomorrow that allows area residents to express their condolences for former first lady Barbara Bush.
Bush, the wife of the nation’s 41st president and mother of the 43rd, died earlier this week at the age of 92. George H.W. Bush was at his wife’s side when she died and had been holding her hand all day, said Jean Becker, chief of staff at the former president’s office in Houston. Her funeral will be held Saturday in Houston.
Mrs. Bush’s funeral arrangements are being handled by Dignity Memorial, a company that owns many funeral homes across the country, including Young’s Funeral Home in El Dorado, said Debra Faulkner, family service counselor with Young’s. Faulkner said that because of that connection, the funeral home will have a memorial book available for the public to express condolences today and tomorrow during regular business hours in the office on Champagnolle Road.
After Saturday, the book will be sent to Houston and will be put in the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University. Mrs. Bush will be buried on the grounds of the library.
Mrs. Bush’s funeral will be held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, which she and her husband regularly attended, in Houston. The church will host a public viewing Friday. The funeral Saturday will be by invitation only.
Current first lady Melania Trump, who will attend Mrs. Bush’s funeral, praised her for putting “family and country above all else.” Among her greatest achievements, President Donald Trump added in a statement, “was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection.”
An “uplifting celebration” of Mrs. Bush’s life will be held Thursday evening outside Houston City Hall. City officials encouraged people to wear blue, her favorite color, along with pearls, which became her signature neckwear jewelry. Houston City Hall was being bathed in blue lights in her honor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.