COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Thousands gathered in Houston on Friday, to say their farewells to Barbara Bush, and many more will line the streets on Saturday in College Station to pay their respects as Mrs. Bush is brought to her final resting place behind the Bush Presidential Library.
The former first lady touched the lives of so many, including a Texas A&M University professor and his wife.
There are many fond memories of Mrs. Bush in the serene pond behind the Bush Presidential Library and the Bush School of Government and Public Service.
Especially for Dr. Chuck Hermann, the founding director of the Bush School.
“She would often walk her dogs around this pond, and on more than one occasion, I joined her,” said Hermann.
“And, the conversation would typically be, ‘what are you reading,’” he added.
A question often heard from Mrs. Bush, always promoting her passion for literacy.
“Because she was interested in knowing what people’s ideas were and how they are reacting to reading and communicating the idea that reading is important,” said Hermann.
Dr. Hermann and his wife, Lorraine, met the Bush family in 1995 when he was chosen as founding director of the Bush School of Government and Public Service.
He remembers the Bush matriarch as being a strong presence who held the family together.
“They all gave each other names, and she had the name of the enforcer,” Hermann remembers.
“She was directing traffic and the President of the United States, and the Governor of Texas were responding to what she is telling them to do,” Hermann said.
He also remembers her sense of humor.
Hermann said he got to work one morning and she was walking the dogs in the parking lot of the Bush Library.
He reminded her about the pond in the back that was a better place to walk the dogs.
“She said, ‘Chuck,’” Hermann remembers. “Maybe you know something about international affairs, but you obviously don’t’ know very much about walking dogs,” he said.
Lorraine remembers Mrs. Bush being kind and gracious to everyone she met.
“It really didn't matter who she was with, she was the same person when I would see her at events where there were heads of state, or if she was talking to cleaning staff, or Bush school students, or other faculty members,” said Lorraine.
“She was just always herself and I think that's one of the things I appreciated most about her, that she was comfortable in her own skin,” she added.
Barbara Bush’s legacy will forever thrive at Texas A&M, as it will all over the world.
“She was a very special lady,” said Lorraine.