Lady Bird Johnson buried on family ranch

STONEWALL, Texas - Lady Bird Johnson arrived at her final resting place beneath a canopy of oak trees yesterday, beside the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the family's ranch in the Texas Hill Country.

Relatives and close friends of the Johnsons said a final goodbye to the former first lady near the banks of the Pedernales River.

Johnson, who died Wednesday at 94, was remembered as an astute businesswoman, a woman who worked to preserve nature, and the devoted wife of a president.

"She always seemed to be wondering if she had done enough for the world, regardless of her own condition," grandson Lyndon Nugent said at the burial service.

Thousands of admirers, many clutching bundles of the wildflowers she loved, had lined streets in Austin and roads in the Hill Country earlier yesterday as her body was brought from the state capital to the LBJ Ranch, about 70 miles west of Austin.

Members of the crowd applauded and cheered as the procession passed through downtown Austin, and a few women blew kisses. Others flashed the University of Texas "hook 'em Horns" sign with their fingers for Johnson, who attended the university and was once a UT System regent. Her husband's presidential library is at UT-Austin.

Three days of ceremonies started Friday with family prayer services and a public visitation at the LBJ Library and Museum. More than 11,500 people paid their respects over nearly 22 hours. On Saturday, about 1,800 people, including family, friends and presidents, attended a two-hour funeral at Riverbend Centre, overlooking the Texas Hill Country.