Lady Bird Laid to Rest

From CNN

Thousands of admirers, many clutching bundles of the wildflowers Lady Bird Johnson loved, lined streets in Austin and roads in the Hill Country as her body was taken from the state capital to the LBJ Ranch, about 70 miles west of Austin.

Members of the crowd applauded and cheered as the procession passed through downtown Austin, and a few women blew kisses.

Outside Austin, people gathered along highways and in little towns, many holding American flags, some clutching wildflowers and some holding umbrellas against the hot sun.
Wildflowers and a sign reading "Thank You Lady Bird" adorned a tractor. Another sign read "God Bless a Great Woman."

More people lined the streets of Johnson City, President Johnson's boyhood home, and the main street was lined with little Texas and American flags stuck in flower pots.

In Austin, retiree Kate Hill handed out sunflowers from her garden to people waiting for the procession. Hill said Johnson's work inspired her to convert her grassy lawn into an expanse of wildflowers and other native plants, and she wanted to thank the former first lady for the beauty.

Three days of ceremonies had started Friday with family prayer services and a public visitation at the LBJ Library and Museum. More than 11,500 people paid their respects over nearly 22 hours.

About 1,800 people, including family, friends and presidents, attended a two-hour funeral Saturday at Riverbend Centre overlooking the Hill Country. People in attendance included former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, first lady Laura Bush and former first ladies Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Environmentalist Ladybird Johnson Passes On

Former first lady, Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson better known as "Lady Bird", died today, family. She was 94.

While seen by many as a "conventional" first lady, she was anything but conventional for her time. With a family inheritance of $41,000 over a five year period between 1937 and 1942, Lady Bird laid the foundation of the family broadcasting fortune over which she served as president and later board chair. She would eventually become the first multimillionaire to assume the role of First Lady

While her husband Lyndon was widely reviled during his presidency because of the Vietnam War, Lady Bird Johnson was seen as an advocate for the protection of the environment. She established a capital beautification project, worked to promote the Highway Beautification Act, and created the National Wildflower Research Center. In 1999, she was awarded the Native Plant Conservation Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of these accomplishments.

As a person who spent a number of years in Texas, her legacy is seen every spring when the blue bells bloom along Texas roads.

"Ugliness is so grim," Lady Bird Johnson once said. "A little beauty, something that is lovely, I think, can help create harmony which will lessen tensions."

She will be missed.