More than 1,000 mourners gathered to pay their last respects on Saturday to Maureen Reagan, ex-US President Ronald Reagan’s daughter, who died of cancer on August 8, aged 60.
At the moving service in Sacramento, California, Secret Service agents acted as pallbearers, carrying the flower-adorned maple casket into the 112-year-old cathedral. Maureen's mother, Falcon Crest actress Jane Wyman, and stepmother, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, each placed an item of remembrance on the coffin - a cross and the Book of Gospels, respectively. Patti Davis and Ron Reagan stood to read a prayer in remembrance of their sister.
Maureen's father Ronald Reagan, 90, who has not made a public appearance since 1996, did not attend. The gathering included people from all walks of life, from family friends to statesmen and Hollywood actors.
US Senator John McCain said Maureen possessed “a generous heart” and “much of her father’s extraordinary ability to communicate her beliefs and abiding passions.” Actor David Hyde Pierce of TV's Frazier spoke of her unwavering devotion to fighting Alzheimer's, saying, "Maureen took care of people - took in the sense of taking charge, taking control, taking the reins."
A political analyst, radio chat show host, and author of First Father, First Daughter, A Memoir, Maureen became a national spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Association after Ronald Reagan announced that he suffered from the ailment in 1994. Despite her own health struggles, which began when she was diagnosed with cancer just two years later, she continued to travel across the US in a crusade to draw attention to Alzheimer’s disease. Maureen is also survived by her husband, Dennis Revell, and their 16-year-old adopted daughter from Uganda, Rita.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Nancy Reagan, with her daughter Patti, joined more than 1,000 mourners at the service
Photo: © Alphapress.com
The Reagan family says goodbye to Maureen at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in California
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Maureen's mother, Jane Wyman, arrives on the arm of her son-in-law, Dennis Revell
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Nancy Reagan places the Book of Gospels on her stepdaughter's coffin at the service
