Betty Ford Passes Away At 93

A family spokeswoman says Betty Ford’s children and relatives are traveling to Palm Springs to make funeral arrangements for the former First Lady.

Barbara Lewanbrowski says Ford died Friday at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

Lewanbrowski says the family expects to organize a service in the desert over the next couple days.

Ford’s body will be sent to Michigan for burial alongside former President Gerald Ford, who is buried at his namesake library in Grand Rapids.

She was born Elizabeth Anne Bloomer on April 8, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, but she’s been known as “Betty” since childhood

She was a model– to support her dance studies— and a fashion coordinator when she met– then married Gerald Ford shortly before he was first elected to congress in 1948.

When he became president in 1974, during the Watergate scandal, Betty was suddenly in the spotlight— especially when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy– as first lady.

“Women are no longer ashamed of having mastectomies,” Ford said then. “They talk about it– I think it’s made great progress and I feel I’ve saved many lives.”

Ford earned great respect through her open talk about breast cancer.

Years later, her son Steven said that frankness about the disease took away some of it’s shame.

He said his mother was the glue that held the family together when his father was away.

But the stress– and fight against cancer– took a toll.

Ford became so hooked on pain pills and alcohol, she entered a California hospital to kick the habits in 1978.

“I’m Betty Ford. I’m an alcoholic,” she announced.

From her sobriety rose the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage— one of America’s first prominent centers devoted solely to drug and alcohol recovery.

Ford’s activism in the field won her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

The Fords spent 30-years together in the Coachella Valley, after retiring from the White House, staying active in charities, golf and occasional politics.

But it was Gerald Ford’s death– the day after Christmas in 2006– when the public got another chance to see this woman— strong as any– even in her time of deepest grief– the loss of her life-long partner.

The Fords attended St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.

The Reverend Robert Certain presided over the president’s funeral services.

He said Betty Ford was a woman of incredibly strong faith.

“I think you have to be as a wife of a public figure and become one yourself, and of course in a 12-step spirituality,” he said. “That’s the name of the game in finding a power greater than yourself to find wholeness.”

Betty Ford wasn’t alone.

She had her family– and friends to support her.

Her daughter Susan Ford-Bales says Betty spent several months quietly responding to the overwhelming outpour of support.

In November of 2007— 14-hundred alumni gathered to celebrate the Betty Ford Center’s 25th year– and the 80-thousand people it’s treated.