Nancy Reagan to be laid to rest close as possible to husband

Mrs. Reagan's funeral service, preceded by public viewings on Wednesday and Thursday, was planned down to the smallest details by the former first lady herself, including the flower arrangements, the music to be played by a U.S. Marine Corps band and the people who received invitations to the private memorial at Simi Valley's Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

First ladies' funerals, once a quiet affair, changed significantly following the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's widow, Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1962.

Mrs. Roosevelt, a United Nations delegate, author and prominent political figure in her own right, tried to keep the event fairly quiet, limiting the guest list to 250 people, although those guests included President John F. Kennedy, former Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and future President Lyndon Johnson.