Thousands pay respect to Barbara Bush at public viewing

Thousands of mourners lined up to pay their final respects to former US first lady Barbara Bush who passed away this week.

A string of mourners, adults and children, were surprisingly greeted by former President George H W Bush, at the public viewing of his wife of 73 years.

Bush sat at the front of the cavernous sanctuary of St Martin's Episcopal Church along with his daughter Doro, gazing up at the rose-draped casket holding his wife of 73 years.

Bush greeted mourners, many of whom were wearing his wife's favourite colour, blue and trademark pearls. He also offered his hand and smiled as people shook it.

Bush died on Tuesday at her Houston home. She was 92.

Barbara and George Bush were married longer than any other presidential couple when she died Tuesday at their home in Houston. One of just two first ladies to have a child elected president, Barbara Bush was widely admired for her plainspoken style and her advocacy for causes including literacy and AIDS awareness.

The casket of the matriarch of the Bush dynasty arrived at St Martin's Episcopal Church off Woodway Drive about 5 am.

The patriarch Bush arrived at the church just before 1 pm and, for about a half-hour, he shook the hands of people filing past the casket of the former first lady.

People attending the viewing lined up yesterday at Second Baptist Church, about 3 miles away, to undergo a security screening and board METRO shuttle buses that took them to St. Martin's