44°
A native of Rye who attended Rye Country Day School, she had been treated for decades for Graves' disease, a thyroid condition.
Bush had been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.
She was surrounded by family and loved ones at the Bush home in Houston at the time of her death.
Barbara Bush was married to former president George H.W. Bush for 73 years, the longest marriage of any U.S. president and first lady. She was first lady from 1989 to 1993. George H.W. Bush is 93 and battling Parkinson's Disease.
Barbara Bush was also the first wife of a president and mother of another chief executive since Abigail Adams. The Bush's son, George W. Bush, was the 43rd president. Son Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.
George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, moved to Greenwich with his family from Milton, Mass., shortly after his birth. He began his education at Greenwich Country Day School. Barbara Pierce Bush grew up in Rye and attended Rye Country Day School.
Barbara Bush was born June 8, 1925. As wife of the vice president and then president, Barbara Bush has supported and worked to advance the cause of universal literacy. She founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy while first lady. Since leaving the White House, she has continued to advance this cause.
In 1995, Bush received the award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 1997, she was the recipient of The Miss America Woman of Achievement Award for her work with literacy programs.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Middletown-Wallkill and receive free news updates.
