Death
On the morning of June 5, 2004 there were reports indicating that former President Ronald Reagan's health had significantly deteriorated, following ten years of Alzheimer's disease. According to Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, "At the last moment, when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that hadn't opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague. They were clear and blue and full of love. If a death can be lovely, his was." His wife, former First Lady Nancy Reagan told him that the moment was "the greatest gift you could have given me." President Reagan died of pneumonia at his home at 13:09 PDT (20:09 UTC, or 16:09 EDT). At his side were his wife and two of his children, Ron and Patti. His eldest surviving child, Michael, was with his father the day before.
A hearse transported the body down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles to the Gates, Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica. Following his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement through the office of her husband, saying:
| “ | My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Death And State Funeral Of Ronald Reagan
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Fatigue dulls the pain, but awakes enticing thoughts of death. So! that is the way in which you are tempted to overcome your loneliness—by making the ultimate escape from life..—No! It may be that death is to be your ultimate gift to life: it must not be an act of treachery against it.”
—Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)
“There are confessable agonies, sufferings of which one can positively be proud. Of bereavement, of parting, of the sense of sin and the fear of death the poets have eloquently spoken. They command the world’s sympathy. But there are also discreditable anguishes, no less excruciating than the others, but of which the sufferer dare not, cannot speak. The anguish of thwarted desire, for example.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Only death rescues us from dying.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)