Arizona state buildings to lower flags to half-staff to honor Barbara Bush

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered all flags on state buildings to be lowered to half-staff to honor the life and legacy of former first lady Barbara Bush.

In a press release, the governor ordered the flags to remain in that position until sunset on Saturday.

Bush died Tuesday at the age of 92.

“Barbara Bush will always be remembered as a true American treasure,” Ducey said in the release. 

“Her legacy of service and passion for improving the lives of others will leave a lasting impact not only in the United States but across the world.”

Bush was a lifelong advocate for child and family literacy.

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her time in the White House.

In its 29 years, the foundation had raised and provided more than $110 million in support to create or expand literacy programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“Focusing on the family is the best place to start to make this country more literate, and I still feel that being more literate will help us solve so many of the other problems facing our society,” she wrote in her 1994 memoir.

“Arizona mourns with the rest of the country,” Ducey wrote on Twitter when her death was announced. “Let her spirit, kindness and grace continue to be an inspiration to us all.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.