Southern California Bids Farewell to Former First Lady Nancy Reagan

The funeral of former first lady Nancy Reagan gets underway Friday morning in Simi Valley at the library and museum commemorating her late husband, President Ronald Reagan.

Services are private, reserved for select friends and family, including children Patti Davis and Ron Prescott Reagan.

First lady Michelle Obama is attending, along with a galaxy of celebrities, including Wayne Newton, Melissa Rivers, Diane Sawyer and Tom Brokaw.

Since early Wednesday several thousand other people have traveled to the scenic hilltop library to pay their respects. The Reagans may not have known many of them personally. But those visiting had intimate memories of the Reagans.

“Don't need to know her personally. She is part of our history, and I think we owe her some gratitude and respect,” said David Meyer.

He was among the first on Thursday morning to file past the former first lady’s closed casket.

It sat on a pedestal inside the Reagan Library’s hushed marbled lobby, showered in white and yellow flowers and circled off by black velvet ropes.

Meyer made a 200-mile round trip from Riverside, even though he never even voted for President Reagan.

“I'm very conservative and the way we spend our money and all of that, but then I'm very liberal about allowing people to be people,” said Meyer.

"And I think Mrs. Reagan was for the people. And I think class was important to her. We need nice dishes to sit down to in the evening and eat as a family,” said Meyer with a smile.

A caravan of buses ferried people to the Reagan Library from a bank parking lot about 4 miles away.

Catherine Sudolcan escorted her mother, Betty Stanley.

Stanley was born in 1921, the same year as Nancy Reagan. And like the late President Reagan, Stanley is battling Alzheimer’s disease. But she was nonetheless determined to make the trip to Simi Valley and pay her respects to Mrs. Reagan.

“She’s pretty wonderful in looks and everything else,” said Stanley.

“She really brought class back to the White House and really made it flourish,” said Catherine Sudolcan.

“After Jacqueline Kennedy, I thought Nancy Reagan finally brought back the sophistication level and elegance,” added sister-in-law Vickie Sudolcan.

Bill Mancini saw that Reagan style close up as a White House aide. He showed me a picture of his shaggier, much younger self alongside the Reagans and a line of other tuxedoed staffers.

“I went through a box in the garage and found a bunch of those photos. That was from the election victory party in 1984,” said Mancini.

Mancini says despite Nancy Reagan’s reputation as a fierce enforcer who could make White House staff quake in their boots, he remembers another side.

“She was always very courteous, very polite to me. When she needed something, very direct, and I responded to that,” said Mancini.

“She championed the causes just like he did with such gusto, and that's what I'll never forget," he added. "The positive way they approached everything, that’s what I miss the most.”

Nancy Reagan will be laid to her rest on the grounds of the Reagan Library and Museum beside her husband on a hillside facing the Pacific Ocean.