Hundreds gathered yesterday to remember former first lady Barbara Bush at a funeral service in Houston, with many more paying tribute by wearing Bush’s signature pearls or wearing blue, her favorite color.
“Nothing was contrived today — this was not a contrived day. The outpouring of love to her was reciprocal of her love,” said Andrew Card, who served as secretary of transportation under George H.W. Bush and chief of staff under George W. Bush. “Today was a conscious-raising day. She reminded us of what it means to be a citizen, what it means to be contributing rather than tearing down.”
Card, who has known the Bush family since the 1970s, said Barbara Bush likely would have thought all the attention was a bit much, but said it was a fitting celebration of her life and the legacy she left.
“I wish that America could experience what I witnessed. It was people coming together to celebrate. There was no anger; it was no partisanship. It was love from everybody involved,” he said. “It was such a good feeling today especially to the tribalism and rancor of politics we’ve been experiencing.”
She had a reputation for tough love, Card said, something that he was on the receiving end of more than once.
Still, even the most pointed comments were rooted in love, he said.
“She was contagious in her love,” Card said. “Sometimes it was tough love, but it was always love. She was contagious in it.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush joked that his mother called her style of mothering him and his siblings “a benevolent dictatorship — but honestly, it wasn’t always benevolent.”
He emphasized how she believed in the power of laughter and that joy should be shared.
He said he could still feel her presence Saturday and she would likely have given him advice on his eulogy: “Jeb, keep it short. Don’t drag this out,” he said to chuckles.
He met her expectations with a speech lasting about seven minutes.
He choked up at one point while addressing the roughly 1,500 people seated inside the St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where his parents regularly worshipped, when saying his mother — who was known for her self-deprecating remarks about her wrinkles and gray hair — was “beautiful” until the very end.
After he spoke, Jeb Bush walked over to his father, and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
Presidential historian Jon Meacham said in his eulogy, “Barbara Bush was the first lady of the greatest generation.”
Meacham said it was Barbara Bush’s quick tongue that made her so popular, along with her work promoting literacy and bringing awareness to AIDS patients.
The couple’s family, including their five children, 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, played a prominent role in the service. Granddaughters offered readings, some their voices shaky with emotion, while their eight grandsons were pallbearers.
The Bush family was seated in front of the church.
Nearby, two other former presidents — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — along with their wives and current first lady Melania Trump were seated in the same pew.
The invitation-only service was also attended by former ambassadors, members of Congress, sports stars and Houston business owners.
The burial will be held at her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. Hundreds of people lined both sides of the street near the campus ahead of the service.
The burial site is in a gated plot surrounded by trees and near a creek where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953, is buried.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
