By Nikki Motson, Michigan Public Radio Network
GRAND RAPIDS, MI –
Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids held funeral services for former First Lady Betty Ford on Thursday.
Former President Bill Clinton, Former First Lady Barbara Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynn attended the funeral. Cheney was President Gerald Ford's chief of staff. Governor Rick Snyder and his wife, Sue, also attended the ceremony.
Area residents lined the streets with flags and signs for the former First Lady who lived just blocks away for many years.
Pat McCarthy is from East Grand Rapids. He says he's proud to be from the same city as Betty and Gerald Ford.
"When I remember Betty Ford I think of a woman of incredible courage, particularly at the time in which she lived," he said. "Whether it was her support of the equal rights amendment, how she dealt with breast cancer and some of the other issues she had with her children in the family. Particularly coming from the Republican Party and knowing that that was very conservative. She expressed a tremendous amount of personal conviction and courage. I'll always remember her for that."
Mrs. Ford died last Friday at age 93. She will be laid to rest next to her husband at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
The Fords met and married in Grand Rapids in 1948.