Reagan to be mourned on both coasts
SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 6 (UPI) -- President Reagan's body will lie in repose at his library in Southern California this week before being brought to Washington for the official state funeral.
Family aides said Sunday there would be a 24-hour visitation period at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley since the late president wanted supporters in his home state of California to have an opportunity to pay their respects.
Reagan died Saturday at his home in the Bel Air enclave of Los Angeles at the age of 93 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
A crowd of around 100 well-wishers remained Sunday around the Santa Monica funeral home where the body was taken after Reagan passed away.
The remains will be flown to Washington on Wednesday and will lie in state at the Capitol until Friday's services at the National Cathedral. Burial and a final private farewell will take place at the Simi Valley library that evening.
Reagan family in 'deep mourning'
SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 6 (UPI) -- President Reagan's family remained in seclusion Sunday as plans for a week of pomp and formal sadness were finalized.
Joanne Drake, the late president's chief of staff, said Mrs. Reagan and their children were locked in a period of "deep mourning" at the family's Bel Air home as phone calls and other messages of sympathy poured in from across the country and around the world.
She said there was also a sense of relief among the family members that Reagan's long and brutal battle with Alzheimer's disease is finally over.
The Reagans will accompany the casket when it is driven from the Santa Monica funeral home to the Reagan library in Simi Valley Monday morning and again on its flight to Washington on Wednesday.
Drake added that she expected Mrs. Reagan to remain an active supporter of research into Alzheimer's disease.
Bush proclaims Friday day of mourning
SEA ISLAND, Ga., June 6 (UPI) -- President Bush late Sunday formally declared Friday as the National Day of Mourning to pay homage to the memory of President Reagan.
In a Proclamation issued from the presidential office on Sea Island, Georgia, where the president will attend an economic summit this week, Bush said he invites the "people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance."
Bush said that Reagan's "optimism, strength and humility epitomized the American spirit. He told us that for America the best was yet to come."
As America's president, "Ronald Reagan helped change the world," the Proclamation continued. "President Reagan has left us, but he has left us stronger and better."
After the Friday morning funeral, Reagan's body will be flown back to California for burial.
Olympic torch in Japan
TOKYO, June 6 (UPI) -- The Olympic torch arrived in Tokyo Sunday from Australia as part of the flame's journey through the world's five continents.
The Kyodo News Service reported that former professional baseball player Kazushige Nagashima would be the first runner, while teen table tennis player Ai Fukuhara, who will participate in the Athens Summer Olympics in August, would be the last torch bearer in Japan.
"I didn't tell my father that I was running today because if I did, he would be jealous," Nagashima said.
His father, Shigeo Nagashima, the manager of the Japan's Olympic baseball team, was originally selected to run in the relay but he suffered a stroke in April and is in rehabilitation.
The torch left Athens Wednesday and will make its way through 33 cities in 26 countries in 65 days.
