Valley leaders remember Barbara Bush

YOUNGSTOWN

Former first lady Barbara Bush, whose funeral is today, was remembered by those in the Mahoning Valley as a personable, gracious woman.

Bush campaigned in the Mahoning Valley for her husband, George H.W. Bush, when he successfully ran for president in 1988 and during his failed re-election bid in 1992.

“She was very outgoing, had her own presence, she took over the room with her personality,” said Bill Binning, who was a George H.W. Bush delegate and an electoral college voter in 1988 when he served as Mahoning County Republican Party chairman.

“She was gracious. She was not shy and could be outspoken. She was a woman of great stature. She was a figure the Republican Party can be proud of.”

Binning met her and her husband on a number of occasions both in the Valley and in other parts of the country.

Read more about that in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.