On March 6, former First Lady Nancy Reagan died from heart failure at the age of 94. Reagan lived a long and honorable life and is being remembered by the City of Rochester for her dedication to Alzheimer’s research and other numerous causes she championed.
“She was very likable and very devoted to Ronald Reagan,” Richard Rosenbaum told 13WHAM‘s Jane Flasch. “She was very outspoken but very likable. I liked her a lot.”
When President Ronald Reagan left office in 1994, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating degenerative condition that is not only one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States, but cannot be prevented, slowed or cured.
Together, Ronald and Nancy Reagan made the decision to publicly announce the diagnosis in a famed letter that began, “My fellow Americans I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease.”
The Reagans’ very public statement brought awareness to a disease that was not necessarily a household name.
“Alzheimer’s was not really on anyone’s radar,” said Teresa Galbier of the Rochester/ Finger Lakes chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Mrs. Reagan then took a very public stand and she helped to put a face and name to it.”
Even before Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the President made November the official month for “Alzheimer’s Awareness.” Mrs. Reagan threw her efforts in by lobbying Congress for support for Alzheimer’s research money.
Mrs. Reagan continued to take very public stands in support of controversial stem cell research. According to 13WHAM, in 2009, the former First Lady stood with President Obama as he created legislation that currently aids stem cell research at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Ronald Reagan died in 2004; up until her death, Mrs. Reagan worked hard to spread awareness and fund research for Alzheimer’s.
“We’re mourning her as her family is,” said Galbier. “But we’re also celebrating what she has done for the cause and how far she moved us.”
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