PAYING RESPECTS NANCY LEADS THOUSANDS AT CASKET-VIEWING.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh and Dana Bartholomew Staff Writers SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - Thousands of mourners waited hours Monday for a chance to circle the flag-draped coffin of former President Ronald Reagan lying in repose Lying in repose is when the remains of a deceased person, often one of some stature, are available for viewing by the public. This is different from "lying in state;" the latter term refers to a formal honor, generally in the principal government building of a country and at his Simi Valley library. First was the late president's wife, first lady Nancy Reagan, dressed in black, who glided up to her husband's casket, her eyes welling with tears, after a solemn ceremony. Without a word, she straightened a wrinkle in the flag and lowered a cheek to its field of stars over her husband's head. Her daughter, Patti Davis Patti Davis (born Patricia Ann Reagan on October 21, 1952 in Los Angeles, California) is the daughter of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Davis. , hugged her close as other members of the president's family laid hands on the presidential casket. ``You could feel his strength in the room,'' said Patricia Espiritu, 35, of Simi Valley, after she filed past the casket with her 6-year-old daughter, Chelsea, one of an estimated 22,000 mourners who paid their respects Monday. ``It was very emotional, very touching.'' Thus began a national day of mourning National Day of Mourning may refer to:
Under hazy skies just before noon, a motorcade bearing Reagan's casket from a Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. funeral home had ascended the winding drive past flags of past presidents to the future Reagan resting place. Six cars containing the first lady, daughter Davis, sons Ron and Michael and other family members and friends followed the presidential hearse. As a Marine Corps band played ``Hail to the Chief,'' a military honor guard walked the casket into the president's library, aided by honorary pallbearers Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. (July 6 1925 – August 12 2007) was an American talk show host, game show host, entertainer, pianist, television personality and raconteur. and Frederick Ryan Frederick Ryan (1876 – 1913), was an Irish playwright and socialist. Career Ryan became secretary of the Irish National Theatre Society in 1902. There he would create realistic satire with the play The Laying of the Foundations. Jr., chairman of the Ronald Reagan Foundation. Inside the rotunda rotunda In Classical and Neoclassical architecture, a building or room that is circular in plan and covered with a dome. The Pantheon is a Classical Roman rotunda. The Villa Rotonda at Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio, is an Italian Renaissance example. , the casket was lowered onto a black-velvet bier bier n. 1. A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial. 2. A coffin along with its stand: followed the bier to the cemetery. . Just outside, a 10-foot bronze of the smiling Gipper, Stetson in hand, waved from a sculpture known as ``After the Ride.'' Reagan's journey had began at the funeral home in Santa Monica, where his mahogany casket had boarded the hearse for the 40-mile drive to the presidential library in Simi Valley. Along the route, mourners watched from freeway overpasses as the motorcade followed the Ronald Reagan Freeway under banners proclaiming ``God bless you Ronald & Nanc'' and ``God bless the Gipper.'' Flags at the library fluttered below half-staff, blown by a cold ocean breeze The Ocean Breeze, (formerly Calypso, Azure Seas, and Dolphin) was an ocean liner, and later a cruise ship. Formerly used for many years as a high speed mail and passenger liner (no freight), the Southern Cross . One by one, mourners from across the nation shuffled into the library to bid their commander in chief goodbye. Some wore red, white and blue. Others wore emblems of military service. Some wept. Others stopped to pray. They came in walkers. They came in wheelchairs. They came, the people of America, in silence to pay their final respects. Former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin Rosario Marin (originally: Marín) was the 41st Treasurer of the United States from August 21, 2001 to June 30, 2003 under President George W. Bush. Education , whose signature appeared on U.S. currency, choked back tears as she circled past the immobile military guard. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] arrived for a brief private tribute. ``We loved the man,'' said Ed Reinecke, who served as lieutenant governor of California The Lieutenant Governor of California is a statewide constitutional officer elected separately from the Governor that serves as the "vice-executive" of California. The Lieutenant Governor of California is elected to serve a four year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. under Reagan from 1969 to 1974. ``It just hurts to see that man in that casket.'' ``I gave him my last salute Last Salute 1984 debut single from 80's group Getting the Fear
An estimated 60,000 well-wishers, waiting for up to five hours to visit the library at a rate of 1,800 an hour, are expected to view the casket by 6 p.m. today. The mourners began lining up just after midnight Monday at nearby Moorpark College to begin boarding shuttles at 11 a.m. By midmorning mid·morn·ing n. The middle of the morning. , the line stretched around the college's parking lot, as families with beach chairs and blankets played cards, read newspapers and recalled Reagan's integrity, diplomacy and optimism. Fred May, 57, and his wife, Luella, 53, arrived just after midnight and were first in line for the Reagan Library shuttles. ``He had a stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. life,'' Fred May said. ``Ronald Reagan was able to make people in other countries understand him. They knew what he stood for. He never had to raise his voice.'' On Wednesday, Reagan's body will be flown to Washington, D.C., where a formal funeral procession will carry it to the U.S. Capitol. There it will lie in state until a state funeral Friday at the National Cathedral. The body will be flown back to Point Mugu in Ventura County and taken via motorcade to the Reagan Library to be interred in a crypt during a private ceremony at sunset. A curved wall lining the memorial bears a three-line inscription from Reagan: ``I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.'' Heather Brandt, 27, drove seven hours from Reno to pay tribute to her former president. ``I think it took a lot of guts to say the things he did,'' Brandt said. ``But he was also so friendly. He was an everyman. He could crack a joke and crack the whip at the same time.'' Todd Pierce, 42, wearing a Navy uniform, emerged from the library's lobby to recall how proud he was to serve eight years under his commander in chief, Reagan. ``It was really a joy to serve under Reagan,'' he said. ``He was a man who said what he believed and believed what he said. He made us glad to be Americans.'' Panna Rawal, 60, an immigrant from India living in Chatsworth, took off from her job as a civil servant to visit the president by late afternoon. ``I'm proud to be an American - he made everyone proud,'' said Rawal, dressed in funerary fu·ner·ar·y adj. Of or suitable for a funeral or burial. [Latin f  ner black, as the stream
of visitors filed onward. ``I wanted to be part of this.''
Liviu Tomutsa, 59, a native of once-communist Romania, took off from his job at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: see Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (body) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - (LLNL) A research organaisatin operated by the University of California under a contract with the US Department of Energy. to drive nearly six hours from Northern California with his family to see the man he said destroyed Soviet communism. ``I'm sad that a great leader passed,'' he said. ``He stood up to the 'evil empire.''' Eleven-year-old William Brock joined his mother, Linda, and three siblings to visit the man they each deemed a great president and a true patriot. ``I came to pay my respects to President Reagan,'' said William, from Sun Valley, who held his mother's hand as he walked stone-faced away from the presidential bier. ``He was a good person, the best president since George Washington.'' Andrea Cavanaugh, (805) 583-7602 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 8 photos, box, map Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color) Nancy Reagan, with the Rev. Michael Wenning in photos above, touches the casket of her husband, President Ronald Reagan, as mourners, right, sign cards and lay flowers outside the Reagan Library. Bryan Chan/Pool Photo Rick Bowmer/Associated Press Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (4 -- color) Los Angeles firefighters raise a huge flag above the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. on the Mulholland overpass Monday to honor President Ronald Reagan as his hearse procession makes its way to Simi Valley. David Sprague/Staff Photographer (5 -- color) Daniel Niemi, 7, of Newbury Park watches the hearse bearing President Ronald Reagan going up Presidential Drive on Monday to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. (6 -- color) Mourners go by the casket of President Ronald Reagan on Monday at his library in Simi Valley. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (7 -- color) Members of the Simi Valley Fire Department salute along with members of the public as the hearse carrying the body of President Ronald Reagan passes on the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press (8 -- color) PRESIDENT REAGAN Box/Map: MOURNING PRESIDENT REAGAN |
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