Nancy Reagan lovingly remembered at Simi Valley funeral service

To the sounds of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Nancy Reagan’s funeral has begun.

Today, Reagan, who died on Sunday at age 94, will be laid to rest beside her husband, former President Ronald Reagan at the Simi Valley in his name.

• LIVE VIDEO: The Nancy Reagan funeral -- YouTube stream

• LIVE COVERAGE: The latest from the Nancy Reagan funeral from Daily News and Daily Bulletin reporters and photographers

Thousands have come to the library this week to pay their respects to Reagan, whose body laid in repose since Wednesday at the library.

• PHOTOS: Friends and dignitaries mou during Nancy Reagan’s funeral

• RELATED: Second day of Nancy Reagan’s public viewing attracts thousands to Simi Valley

It was a prelude to this moing, where Reagan was the focus of eulogies and a program that ranged from the opening music performed by the Santa Susana High School Advanced Women’s Choir to reflections by Tom Brokaw and Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis and her son, Ronald Reagan Jr.

Looking on this moing are former first ladies, including Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

They, along with former President George W. Bush, and a large crowed silently looked on as Reagan’s casket was carried by members of the armed forces to an altar.

• VIDEO: San Luis Obispo man pays respects to Nancy Reagan

That’s when former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney spoke.

“She really was always on his mind,” he said, recalling a story about Nancy from the days when Ronald Reagan was president.

• VIDEO: Steve Forbes on Nancy Reagan

Mulroney shared a letter from Dec. 25, 1981, which Ronald Reagan wrote to Nancy during their first Christmas in the White House.

“There’s another gal I love ...” the letter read, recalling moments Ronald Reagan loved about Nancy Reagan.

“She loves to laugh, and her laugh is like tinkling bells,” the letter read.

• VIDEO: Media and mouers gather for Nancy Reagan funeral

“There could be no life for me without you,” Reagan wrote.

Mulroney went on after the letter:

“They had style and they had grace and they had class,” Mulroney said.

• PHOTOS: Mouers file past Nancy Reagan’s coffin at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley

Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker recalled Nancy Reagan’s strength and her tendeess.

Advertisement

She was a fierce protector and adviser to her husband, he recalled.

• VIDEO: Security and preparation for the Nancy Reagan funeral

“She was as tough as a Marine drill sergeant,” he said.

And yet when her husband was shot in 1981, “She was devastated,” Baker said. “And in fact, she fell apart.”

But together they would make it through the assassination attempt.

“The first lady left with a fierce determination to protect him in any way she could,” he said.

“Now she, too, has exited the stage to join her beloved Roy.”