Museum Prepares for Funeral for 1st Lady : Yorba Linda: Nixon library closes, plans for service to be attended by Reagans, Fords.

By DE TRAN

June 23, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

YORBA LINDA — Patricia Ryan Nixon’s final resting place is just a few feet from where her husband was born, on a plot of land that overlooks the rose garden at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace.

The former First Lady will be buried Saturday after a state funeral, which will be attended by Ronald and Nancy Reagan and Gerald R. and Betty Ford.

Flags at the library were flown at half staff Tuesday, and officials closed the facilities through Sunday to allow time for funeral arrangements.

Library officials were still working out details of the service Tuesday, said Director John H. Taylor. It’s still unclear who or how many will be attending the funeral.

“We are still assembling them,” Taylor said. “Many dignitaries will be present, and the Fords and Reagans will be among those.”

Officials, however, were able to finalize some plans.

Mrs. Nixon’s body will lie in state in the library’s lobby Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. The public is welcome.

The Rev. Billy Graham will conduct the funeral service Saturday, open only to family members and friends.

In the amphitheater near the library, Sen. Robert Dole, Gov. Pete Wilson, longtime family friend Cynthia Milligan and former Nixon aide Gen. James D. Hughes will deliver the eulogies, Taylor said. Students from Chapman University will provide the music.

Mrs. Nixon will be buried on a plot east of the First Lady Garden, about 25 feet from where her husband was born, Taylor said. The garden is in bloom with white, yellow and pink roses, her favorite colors, Taylor said.

The family contacted the library a few weeks ago about the funeral, Taylor said.

“The Nixons, not being overly preoccupied with death, never dwelled on where they were going be buried,” Taylor said. “Within the last few weeks, as Mrs. Nixon’s situation became more serious . . . the family raised with us the desire that she should be buried here.”

Richard Nixon’s plans are not clear. “He had not told us of his plans,” Taylor said. “But we assume that he would want to be with Mrs. Nixon.”

Taylor noted that the Reagans plan to be interred at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, while the Fords plan to be buried at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The news of Mrs. Nixon’s death brought some visitors to the closed library.

“As soon as I heard the news, I got in the car and came here,” said Bruce Herschensohn, who was a Nixon White House aide. “It was the logical thing to do. The car knew the way.”

Herschensohn, who lost his Senate bid to Barbara Boxer, first met the Nixons in 1972.

“She was the rock of support for the President,” he said. “I just think of her as the definition of the First Lady.”