According to a spokeswoman with the Reagan Library, Nancy Reagan died earlier this morning [Sunday, March 6, 2016]. She was 94.
Reagan’s spokesperson Joanne Drake made a statement that her cause of death was heart failure. “Mrs. Reagan will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, next to her husband, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004. Prior to the funeral service, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to pay their respects at the Library.”
Born Anne Frances Robbins in New York City in 1921, Nancy was an actress when she met Ronald Reagan in 1949, then an actor and president of the Screen Actor’s Guild. When she was six her mother, Edith, a stage actress, married Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon. The doctor adopted Nancy and she grew up in Chicago.
Nancy had a strong influence on her husband and played a role in a few of his personnel and diplomatic decisions while in office. She devoted most of her time post-office caring for her ailing husband, who was diagnosed in 1994 with Alzheimer’s, until until his death at age 93 in 2004. Nancy is survived by her two children, Patti and Ron Reagan.
