Barbara Pierce was born in the New York borough of Manhattan and raised in the suburb of Rye, New York. Her parents were Marvin Pierce and the former Pauline Robinson. She attended Ashley Hall, a girls boarding school in Charleston, South Carolina. At age 16, while on Christmas vacation, she met a student from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts named George H.W. Bush at a school dance. They were engaged 18 months later, just before he went to fight in World War II as a Navy pilot. They were married on January 6, 1945 in her home town of Rye.
Because of George Bush's military assignments and later involvement in the oil business, the couple moved frequently. They had six children: George W., Pauline "Robin" (who died of leukemia at age 3), John E. (known as "Jeb"), Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. They even spent some time in China when George Bush was appointed head of the U.S. Liaison Office in the P.R.C. He was later appointed to direct the CIA, and was elected Vice President and President. Two of Mrs. Bush's children also became successful politicians, as George W. was elected Governor of Texas and President, and Jeb was elected Governor of Florida. During her time in Washington, she took up the cause of literacy, after her son Neil was diagnosed with dyslexia, founding the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
After leaving Washington, the Bushes resided in Houston and at their family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Starting in 2008, Mrs. Bush suffered a number of ailments including pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and Grave's disease. She was preceded in death by her daughter Pauline, her brother James Pierce, and her sister Martha Rafferty; and is survived by her husband, her brother Scott Pierce, her five remaining children, her 17 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
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