Lady Bird

[pooch]

Passed away today. just heard on the news.

[Gobbla2001]

fly fly away...


Your husband was a man, ma'am... one of the best presidents ever...

[burnet44]

Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson dies By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago



AUSTIN, Texas - Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady who championed conservation and worked tenaciously for the political career of her husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, died Wednesday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 94.

ADVERTISEMENT

Johnson, who suffered a stroke in 2002 that affected her ability to speak, returned home late last month after a week at Seton Medical Center, where she'd been admitted for a low-grade fever.

She died of natural causes at her Austin home, surrounded by family and friends, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Christian.

Even after the stroke, Johnson still managed to make occasional public appearances and get outdoors to enjoy her beloved wildflowers. But she was unable to speak more than a few short phrases, and more recently did not speak at all, Anne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the LBJ Library and Museum, said in 2006. She communicated her thoughts and needs by writing, Wheeler said.

Lyndon Johnson died in 1973, four years after the Johnsons left the White House.

The longest-living first lady in history was Bess Truman, who was 97 when she died in 1982.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush remembered Mrs. Johnson as a "warm and gracious woman."

"President Johnson once called her a woman of ideals, principles, intelligence, and refinement. She remained so throughout their life together, and in the many years given to her afterward," President Bush said.

Other former first ladies remembered Johnson on Wednesday as deeply devoted to her family and the environment.

"Her beautification programs benefited the entire nation. She translated her love for the land and the environment into a lifetime of achievement," Betty Ford said.

Nancy Reagan said that when Lyndon Johnson was called upon to take the oath of office in the face of tragedy after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, "he did so with his courageous wife beside him." She said Lady Bird Johnson served the nation with honor and dignity.

"I believe above all else that Lady Bird will always be remembered as a loyal and devoted wife, a loving and caring mother and a proud and nurturing grandmother," Reagan said.

The daughter of a Texas rancher, she spent 34 years in Washington as the wife of a congressional secretary, U.S. representative, senator, vice president and president. The couple had two daughters, Lynda Bird, born in 1944, and Luci Baines, born in 1947. The couple returned to Texas after the presidency, and Lady Bird Johnson lived for more than 30 years in and near Austin.

"Like all Americans, but especially those of us who call Texas home, we loved Lady Bird," Bush said Wednesday.

Lady Bird Johnson once turned down a class valedictorian's medal because of her fear of public speaking, but she joined in every one of her husband's campaigns. She was soft-spoken but rarely lost her composure, despite heckling and grueling campaign schedules. She once appeared for 47 speeches in four days.

She had a cool head for business, turning a modest sum of money into a multimillion-dollar radio corporation in Austin that flourished under family ownership for more than a half-century. With a $17,500 inheritance from her mother, she purchased a small, faltering radio station in 1942 in Austin. The family business later expanded into television and banking.

When Johnson challenged Sen. John F. Kennedy unsuccessfully in 1960 for the Democratic presidential nomination, his wife was his chief supporter, although she confessed privately she would rather be home in Texas.

She was with her husband in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, and was at his side as he took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One.

In her book "A White House Diary," she recalled seeing Jacqueline Kennedy with her husband's blood still on her dress and leg. "Somehow that was one of the most poignant sights — that immaculate woman, exquisitely dressed, and caked in blood," she wrote.

Suddenly, the unpretentious woman from Texas found herself first lady of the United States, splitting time between the White House and the Johnson family's 13-room stone and frame house on the LBJ Ranch, near Johnson City west of Austin.

Her White House years also were filled with the turbulence of the Vietnam War era.

The first lady often would speak her fears and hopes into a tape recorder, and some of the transcripts were included in the 2001 book "Reaching for Glory, Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965," edited by historian Michael Beschloss.

She quoted her husband as saying: "I can't get out. And I can't finish it with what I have got. And I don't know what the hell to do."

Both daughters married while their father was president. Luci married Patrick Nugent, in 1966 at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. That marriage ended in divorce and she wed Canadian banker Ian Turpin in 1984. Daughter Lynda Bird married Charles Robb, later governor and U.S. senator from Virginia, in a White House wedding in 1967.

After she and her husband left Washington, Lady Bird Johnson worked on "A White House Diary," published in 1970. She also served a six-year term starting in 1971 as a University of Texas regent.


She was born Claudia Alta Taylor on Dec. 22, 1912, in the small East Texas town of Karnack. Her father was Thomas Jefferson Taylor, a wealthy rancher and merchant. Her mother was the former Minnie Lee Patillo of Alabama, who loved books and music.

Lady Bird Johnson received her nickname in infancy from a caretaker nurse who said she was as "pretty as a lady bird." It was the name by which the world would come to know her. She disliked it, but said later, "I made my peace with it."

When Lady Bird was 5, her mother died, and her aunt, Effie Patillo, came to care for her and two older brothers.

She graduated from Marshall High School at age 15 and prepared for college at St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls in Dallas. At the University of Texas in Austin she studied journalism and took enough education courses to qualify as a public school teacher. She received a bachelor of arts degree in 1933 and a bachelor of journalism in 1934.

A few weeks later, through a friend in Austin, she met Lyndon Johnson, then secretary to U.S. Rep. Richard Kleberg, a Democrat from Texas. The day after their first date, Lyndon Johnson proposed. They were married within two months, on Nov. 17, 1934, in San Antonio.

In December 1972, the Johnsons gave the LBJ Ranch house and surrounding property to the United States as a National Historic Site, retaining a life estate for themselves. The property is to transfer to the federal park service after her death.

The family's privately held broadcasting company — later overseen by Luci Baines Johnson — was sold in March 2003 to Emmis Communications of Indianapolis. Lady Bird Johnson had been a director of the radio company in her later years and even attended most board meetings before her 2002 stroke.

On her 70th birthday, in 1982, she and Helen Hayes founded the National Wildflower Research Center near Austin, later renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The research and education center is dedicated to the preservation and use of wildflowers and native plants.


Mrs. Johnson will lie in repose at the LBJ Library and Museum from 1:15 p.m. Friday until 11 a.m. Saturday. A private funeral service will be held Saturday afternoon and a ceremonial cortege will carry Mrs. Johnson to Stonewall for burial in the Johnson family cemetery.

[Snydertigersrul]

LBJ was the greatest President ever and she was the greatest First Lady.

[tigerfan69]

She lived a long and happy life.

[footballgal]

More insight on Lady Bird;

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876083-3,00.html


interesting tid bid;


"*When she was two, her Negro nurse landsaked, "Lawd, she's purty as a ladybird," and the name stuck. A ladybird, as it is called in the Southwest, is not a bird at all, but a black-dotted little beetle, otherwise known as a ladybug."

[injuredinmelee]

I do not know if any of you ever had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Lady Bird in person but she was a fantastic woman. I am distantly related and to say distant is a stretch. SHe is like a second cousin to my moms great aunt or something jacked up like that but I was able to be around her on many occasions. I went to three different high schools my jr year and got lucky enough to have to do 3 a thesis at each one of them. The one I did for Ft. Worth Brewer was on LBJ and I was lucky enough to gain Ms. Lady Bird's audience for an interview. It was the most fascinating conversation I had ever had in my life and still ranks right up there. SHe was a frail creature even then physically but her spirit and charm were immeasurable. America lost one of its finest citizens yesterday. RIP

[pirate44]

definately one of the greatest basketball players of all time. very sad news. he was much too young for this :(

[footballgal]

Originally posted by pirate44
definately one of the greatest basketball players of all time. very sad news. he was much too young for this :(

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[pirate44]

Originally posted by footballgal
:confused: :confused: :confused:
yes, sad indeed. i sometimes question these things too. :(

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by pirate44
definately one of the greatest basketball players of all time. very sad news. he was much too young for this :(

WHAT?? LOL

[pirate44]

Originally posted by pirate4state
WHAT?? LOL
i know you're not a fan of the game, but it's not nice to joke about the departed :(

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by pirate44
i know you're not a fan of the game, but it's not nice to joke about the departed :(

wow...

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by pirate44
i know you're not a fan of the game, but it's not nice to joke about the departed :( ummmmmm, please tell me YOU ARE joking.

[Antec]

We met her about 5 years ago at the LBJ Ranch Christmas lighting festival

She was there with her daughter Lucy and her family.

She was very cordial and friendly and we were able to chat a few minutes

It was a tradition of her lighting the xmas tree every year at the ranch

They give you bus tour and stop off at houses on the ranch and one house gives homemade cookies and punch

It was an enjoyable time

Lady Bird will be missed-she was part of the Texas culture and like decorating the area

Love the outdoors and the Hill Country