(CNN) Former first lady Nancy Reagan , who joined her husband on a storybook journey from Hollywood to the White House, died Sunday.

She was 94.

Reagan died at her home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman, Joanne Drake of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

"Mrs. Reagan will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, next to her husband, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004. Prior to the funeral service, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to pay their respects at the library," Drake said in a statement.

The former first lady requested that contributions be made to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation in lieu of flowers, the statement said.

Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan First lady Nancy Reagan stands next to her husband, President Ronald Reagan, as they wave from the steps of Air Force One in December 1981. The first lady died at her home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman, Joanne Drake of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. She was 94. Hide Caption 1 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis and Ronald Reagan appear at the premiere of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in Hollywood in 1951. The couple married the following year. Hide Caption 2 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Ronald and Nancy Reagan smile as they have their honeymoon dinner at the Stork Club in New York City in 1952. Hide Caption 3 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Ronald Reagan watches as his wife, Nancy, aims a rifle at their ranch in Malibu, California, in 1954. Hide Caption 4 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans prepare for a day's work on their ranch in Malibu. Hide Caption 5 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans pose for a family portrait with their daughter, Patti Davis, and their infant son, Ron, in 1955. Hide Caption 6 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Ronald and Nancy Reagan appear in "Hellcats of the Navy" in 1957. It was her last film. Hide Caption 7 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans wave after President Reagan was sworn in as 40th president of the United States by Chief Justice Warren Burger on January 20, 1981, at the Capitol in Washington. At right is Vice President George H.W. Bush. Hide Caption 8 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans ride horses on January 10, 1981. Hide Caption 9 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Nancy Reagan is photographed in London for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981. Hide Caption 10 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan President Reagan stands behind a lectern as first lady Nancy Reagan stands in a side doorway, planning to surprise him with a birthday cake on February 4, 1983, at the White House. Hide Caption 11 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan poses with Gary Coleman in a 1983 publicity photo for an episode of "Diff'rent Strokes." Hide Caption 12 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan sits on the lap of Mr. T, dressed as Santa Claus, during a White House Christmas decoration tour in 1983. Hide Caption 13 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagan family poses outdoors at Nancy's birthday party in Rancho del Cielo, California, on August 17, 1985. Hide Caption 14 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans meet with Princess Diana and Prince Charles at the White House on November 9, 1985, during the royals' official visit to the United States. Hide Caption 15 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan meets with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at No. 10 Downing Street on July 22,1986, during a visit to London. Hide Caption 16 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans are welcomed by youngsters with signs and balloons as Nancy returns to the White House after undergoing a mastectomy in October 1987. Hide Caption 17 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Ronald Reagan blows out the candles on his cake with help from Nancy as he celebrates his 82nd birthday on February 6, 1993. At left is former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Hide Caption 18 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan The Reagans celebrate Ronald Reagan's 89th birthday on February 6, 2000, at their home In Bel-Air, California. Hide Caption 19 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Nancy Reagan poses with the Leadership Award she received from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on March 15, 2000, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Caifornia. She was honored by the Congressional Award Foundation for her efforts as first lady in the fight against youth drug abuse both in the United States and around the world. Hide Caption 20 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan and Elizabeth Dole, right, pose with the Rev. Billy Graham after honoring him with the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in recognition of his "monumental and lasting contribution to the cause of religious freedom" during a ceremony on April 5, 2000, in Beverly Hills, California. Hide Caption 21 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Nancy Reagan speaks as President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush look on at the christening ceremony of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on March 4, 2001, in Newport News, Virginia. Hide Caption 22 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Actor Michael J. Fox poses with Reagan at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's tribute to Nancy Reagan on May 8, 2004, in Beverly Hills, California. Reagan was honored for her commitment to stem cell research. Hide Caption 23 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Nancy Reagan and daughter Patti Davis, second left, view a makeshift memorial in front of the funeral home in Santa Monica, California, where President Reagan's body rests on June 7, 2004 . Hide Caption 24 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Ron Reagan, Michael Wenning, Nancy Reagan, Patti Davis, Ashley Reagan and Michael Reagan pay their respects over the casket that contains the body of former President Ronald Reagan following the memorial service on June 7, 2004, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Hide Caption 25 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan speaks at the end of the "A Nation Honors Nancy Reagan" dinner on May 11, 2005, in Washington. The event was held to pay tribute to Reagan and celebrate her life and her accomplishments. Hide Caption 26 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan wipes away a tear after the unveiling of a statue of former President Ronald Reagan in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on June 3, 2009. Also pictured, from left, are House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Hide Caption 27 of 28 Photos: Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan Reagan, from left, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Sen. Richard Lugar and Rep. Elton Gallegly watch President Barack Obama sign a bill on June 2, 2009, in Washington. Obama signed the "Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act" to honor Ronald Reagan on his 100th birth anniversary in 2011. Hide Caption 28 of 28

In a statement, President Barack Obama thanked Reagan for her "warm and generous advice."

"Our former First Lady redefined the role in her time here," he continued. "Later, in her long goodbye with President Reagan, she became a voice on behalf of millions of families going through the depleting, aching reality of Alzheimer's, and took on a new role, as advocate, on behalf of treatments that hold the potential and the promise to improve and save lives.

"We offer our sincere condolences to their children, Patti, Ron, and Michael, and to their grandchildren. "

"With the passing of Nancy Reagan, we say a final goodbye to the days of Ronald Reagan," wrote 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Facebook. "With charm, grace, and a passion for America, this couple reminded us of the greatness and the endurance of the American experiment. ... God and Ronnie have finally welcomed a choice soul home."

Former first lady Barbara Bush, whose husband George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as president, said, "Nancy Reagan was totally devoted to President Reagan, and we take comfort that they will be reunited once more. George and I send our prayers and condolences to her family."

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, also were moved by Reagan's death.

"Mrs. Reagan was fiercely loyal to her beloved husband, and that devotion was matched only by her devotion to our country," Bush said in a statement.

He observed that her influence on the White House was "complete and lasting."

A fierce protector

As first lady during Ronald Reagan's eight years in the White House, Nancy Reagan was known as the "Just say no" spokeswoman of anti-drug campaigns and as a fierce protector of her husband, both personally and politically.

When Ronald Reagan was shot in a 1981 assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan never left the hospital where the president was treated until he was released, according to her press secretary, Sheila Tate.

After she and her husband left Washington, she became his protector again as he struggled with Alzheimer's disease until his death in 2004. Afterward, she remained a staunch guardian of his image and legacy.

"She was always the one who kept the flame alive," said CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, a former Reagan adviser.

Her official White House biography quotes Nancy Reagan as saying, "My life really began when I married my husband."

A marriage made in Hollywood

She was born Anne Frances Robbins in New York City on July 6, 1921. Her mother and father separated before her birth.

Her mother, Edith, toured with a theater company while Nancy lived with an aunt and uncle. Her mother married Chicago neurosurgeon Loyal Davis when the future first lady was young. He adopted her and she settled down in Chicago, before she adopted the stage name Nancy Davis and headed west to Hollywood.

"She told me that MGM was like a big family, that when she signed with MGM, she became part of that family. They took care of her," Tate said.

As part of the MGM stable, Nancy Davis made 11 films from 1949 until 1956, but her career almost ended before it began. Her name appeared on a list of people thought to have been communist sympathizers in 1949.

"She got a mailing that was for another Nancy Davis, and this other Nancy Davis was in connection with one of those Hollywood blacklists that were going on in the Hollywood red-hunting days," biographer Lou Cannon said.

Upset, she turned to a friend for help and he set up a meeting with the president of the Screen Actors Guild, a dashing leading man named Ronald Reagan.

It would be the start of one of Hollywood's and Washington's most enduring love stories. In fact, her final screen appearance was playing opposite her future husband in a movie called "Hellcats of the Navy."

The two wed on March 4, 1952, in a private ceremony at a small church near Los Angeles. She began her role as a wife of a politician when her husband won the 1966 California gubernatorial race.

In politics

Ronald Reagan's two terms as California governor catapulted him into the national spotlight, and he ran for higher office.

He swept into the White House and when he was inaugurated in 1981, Nancy Reagan brought to Washington a style and elegance that many loved.

But she was also criticized for wearing expensive designer gowns and ordering expensive new china for White House state dinners -- even though the place settings were paid for with private funds.

"Nancy Reagan was hurt by it, it bothered her because people didn't understand," former White House Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein said. "But the impact was more on him, because 'Somebody was picking on my Nancy.' And that was unfair."

'A codependent presidency'

She had a sweeping influence on how the White House was run, especially when it came to the people who worked for the President.

"They had a codependent marriage that became a codependent presidency," CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said.

"Ronald Reagan was the nice guy who liked to tell everybody how wonderful they were. She was the judge of character, and if she thought somebody didn't have her husband's interest in mind, she nixed them. You can't overestimate how important she was for the Reagan revolution and Reagan's eight years in the White House."

When President Reagan was shot in March 1981, only she and a few others knew how badly hurt he really was.

"I remember sitting in the anteroom with her and we were dealing with a few things that had to be dealt with, and there was this pounding," Tate said. "And she said: 'They're pounding on his back.' And it was really shocking -- bam, bam -- just to get everything moving. ...

"She never left that hospital."

After the assassination attempt, the president's safety was Nancy Reagan's No. 1 preoccupation.

'I make no apologies'

Through it all, she had many admirers and critics.

Chief among the critics was her husband's former chief of staff Donald Regan, who wrote a blistering book about her influence, claiming that she used an astrologer to determine the president's schedule.

"I would have preferred it if he decided to attack me," Ronald Reagan said at the time. "From what I hear, he's chosen to attack my wife, and I don't look kindly on that at all."

A year after Reagan's final year in office, the first lady fired back at Regan in her 1989 book, "My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan."

"I make no apologies for telling him what I thought," the former first lady wrote, referring to her husband.

Gergen said Sunday that she was not a woman to cross when it came to her husband.

"She thought her first and foremost duty was to be there with him," he said.

'Her beloved Ronnie'

Indeed, when observers describe Mrs. Reagan, their stories often involve the words "devoted" and "protective."

"Nancy was a powerful figure in the Reagan White House. (She was a) most protective person," former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno said Sunday. "Her agenda always, always, always was her beloved Ronnie."

Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Ronald Wilson Reagan's career included stints as a lifeguard, a radio sportscaster, an actor, leader of the Screen Actors Guild labor union, governor of California and finally as the 40th President of the United States. Click through these photos to see glimpses of a multifaceted life. For more, watch CNN Films' "The Reagan Show," now available on CNNgo. Hide Caption 1 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Born in 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan (second row, left) posed in this 1919 photo with his third grade classmates. Hide Caption 2 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan served as a lifeguard in his youth, eventually saving 77 swimmers over seven summers in Dixon, Illinois, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Hide Caption 3 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career When this photo was taken in 1929, Reagan played football at Eureka College. He also was a member of the school swimming and track teams. Hide Caption 4 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career After starting out as a radio sports broadcaster, Reagan worked his way into the acting profession. Here, he sits with actress Margaret Lindsay in the Warner Brothers Studio commissary in 1935. Hide Caption 5 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan married actress Nancy Davis in 1952. "I think my life really began when I met Nancy," Reagan once said. Hide Caption 6 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan -- seen in this 1935 portrait -- enjoyed horseback riding. Hide Caption 7 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career As a younger man, Reagan was a Democrat. Seen here at a Screen Actors Guild event, Reagan served as president of the labor union from 1947 to 1952. In the 1950s, he began to identify more with Republican political candidates -- voting for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. By 1960, Reagan said he was no longer a Democrat and in 1962, he registered as a Republican. Hide Caption 8 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career After serving as governor of California in the 1960s, Reagan launched an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1979. Hide Caption 9 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan makes a speech during the Republican presidential primary in New York in March 1980. Behind him are campaign posters with one of his most famous slogans: "Let's make America great again." Hide Caption 10 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career A 1980 campaign button features Reagan and his running mate, George H. W. Bush. Hide Caption 11 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Outgoing President Jimmy Carter, left, sits with president-elect Reagan in the back of a limousine en route to Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981. Hide Caption 12 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan and the first lady wave immediately following his swearing in. Hide Caption 13 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley fired six shots at Reagan as he exited a Washington hotel with his entourage. Police officer Thomas Delahanty (foreground) and Press Secretary James Brady (behind) lay wounded on the ground. Reagan was hit by one of the bullets and was hospitalized for 12 days. He fully recovered. Hide Caption 14 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan met with Pope John Paul II on September 10, 1987 in the Vizcaya, a lavish mansion on Biscayne Bay, in Miami. Hide Caption 15 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan had a warm working relationship with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, seen together here in 1989. Hide Caption 16 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career In November 1985, during the height of the Cold War, Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time at the villa Fleur D'Eau at Versoix near Geneva. Hide Caption 17 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career In 1987, at a ceremony commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, Reagan delivered his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate, near the Berlin Wall, commanding Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!" Two years later, the wall came down. Hide Caption 18 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reporters grilled Reagan during the height of the Iran-Contra scandal. It was discovered that the administration had used profits from secret US arms sales to Iran to help Contra rebels fighting the Soviet-backed government in Nicaragua. Hide Caption 19 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan and the first lady take a horseback ride at their Rancho del Cielo vacation home in Santa Barbara, California, circa 1982. Hide Caption 20 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career Reagan addresses the Republican National Convention in 1984. Hide Caption 21 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career In November 1994 Reagan announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He then faded from public view and was rarely seen outside his home. In 2000, the Reagans celebrated the former president's 89th birthday and released this photo. Hide Caption 22 of 23 Photos: Ronald Reagan's life and career After President Reagan's death from Alzheimer's on June 5, 2004, the former president laid in state inside the Capitol rotunda. During an emotional moment shortly before Reagan's state funeral ceremony, the first lady paused to kiss her husband's flag-draped casket. Hide Caption 23 of 23

Added CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger, "Her real role was to protect her husband and to make sure everyone around him was on the same page. ... Everything she did was in Reagan's interest. And like most politicians' spouses she really had his ear."

She had other more traditional roles at the White House, including as a spokeswoman for the anti-drug program -- which was reduced to a phrase, "Just Say No." She even made an appearance on the 1980s sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" to deliver the message.

"When I said, 'Just say no,' it was an answer to a question by a child in a classroom," she told CNN's Larry King. "Now, I didn't mean that was the whole answer, obviously, but it served a purpose."

Maintaining a legacy

Those closest to the former first lady said they were concerned about her when her husband of 52 years passed away of Alzheimer's in 2004, but she remained in the public eye.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, she hosted two debates for Republican candidates at the Reagan Library, according to her biography on the National First Ladies' Library website.

In 2011, she attended a debate for the 2012 Republican hopefuls at the library. She received a standing ovation.

But she believed some relationships were above politics. When historian Brinkley told her he wasn't a conservative, she asked, "What's your point?"

"She thought Ronald Reagan was an American president -- after all, Ronald Reagan voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt four times, he used to be a Democrat," Brinkley said Sunday. "While the right in America celebrates him almost like a patron Saint Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan is the one that said my husband represented all of the American people, not just Republicans."

'A pretty fabulous life'

She'd had her own medical challenges. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and underwent a mastectomy.

But she maintained an upbeat view -- even when it didn't involve gazing adoringly at her husband, as she famously did in countless pictures.

In a 2001 interview which took place on Ronald Reagan's 90th birthday, CNN's Larry King asked the former first lady whether she felt that fate had treated her badly.

"No, no. When you balance it all out, I've had a pretty fabulous life," she said.

Nancy Reagan is survived by Patti Davis and Ron Reagan -- her two children with Ronald Reagan -- and Michael Reagan, a son from Ronald Reagan's first marriage to Jane Wyman. Maureen Reagan, Ronald Reagan's daughter with Jane Wyman, died in 2001.