Lady Bird Johnson-dead at 94

Late breaking news. Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady and wife of President Lyndon Johnson has passed away at age 94.

Born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas, December 22, 1912. Lady Bird Johnson's father was Thomas Jefferson Taylor and her mother was Minnie Pattillo Taylor, who died when she was five-years old. She had two older brothers, Tommy and Tony.

After her mother's death, Mrs. Johnson's Aunt Effie Pattillo moved to Karnack to look after her. At an early age, a nursemaid said she was "as purty as a lady bird" -- thereafter she became known to her family and friends as "Lady Bird."

Lady Bird entered the University of Texas in 1930 and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1933 with a major in history. She earned a journalism degree in 1934. After a whirlwind courtship, Claudia Alta Taylor and Lyndon Baines Johnson were married, November 17, 1934 at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. Two daughters were born to the Johnsons: Lynda Bird Johnson (1944) and Luci Baines Johnson. (1947)

In 1977, President Gerald Ford presented Johnson with this country's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. She received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

On her 70th birthday in 1982, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and re-establishment of native plants in natural and planned landscapes.