3 days of mourning for former first lady Nancy Reagan begin

Before her death she planned the funeral's flower arrangements, the music to be played by a U.S. Marine Corps band and the people who received invitations to the private memorial.

First ladies' funerals, once a quiet affair, changed significantly following the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's widow, Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1962.

Mrs. Roosevelt, a United Nations delegate, author and prominent political figure in her own right, tried to keep the event fairly quiet, limiting the guest list to 250 people, although those guests included President John F. Kennedy, former Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and future President Lyndon Johnson.

Some 800 people, including Mrs. Reagan, attended a private memorial service for her in Palm Springs, California, followed by a second, smaller service in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.