President George W. Bush, her son, said she was “so much more” than her public persona.

“Laura, Barbara, Jenna and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” he wrote, referring to his wife, Laura Bush, and their two daughters. “Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end.”

Many people noted the priority she placed on her family, despite her career in the public eye.

“Mrs. Bush approached her public role with a class and grace seldom matched in our nation’s capital,” wrote Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, where the Bushes lived. “But it was her private role which she prized above all.”