In his first public comments since his wife's death, former President George H.W. Bush said Wednesday that he used to tease his spouse of 73 years that he had a complex about how much people liked her.
FILE - In this 1990 file photo, first lady Barbara Bush poses with her dog Millie in Washington. A family spokesman said Tuesday, April 17, 2018, that former first lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)
Click to Gallery
In his first public comments since his wife's death, former President George H.W. Bush said Wednesday that he used to tease his spouse of 73 years that he had a complex about how much people liked her.
That fact, he said, is buoyed by stories about Barbara Bush's warmth and wit following her death. Tributes have rolled in from around the world, from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to a U.S. Navy commander, who recalled Mrs. Bush handing out cookies to sailors on a battleship.
CORRECTS YEAR OF PHOTO TO 1988, INSTEAD OF 1998 - FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1988, file photo, President-elect George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are shown during a morning beachfront news conference in Gulf Stream, Fla. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
His wife died Tuesday as their Houston home, where he held her hand, all day, before she died at age 92. They had been married longer than any other presidential couple.
Clarissa Lockett holds a sign reading "Prayers for the Bush Family" across the street from the gated community where former first lady Barbara Bush died earlier in the day, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Their son, former President George W. Bush, told an audience at his presidential library in Dallas on Wednesday that his mother was "funny to the end." He recalled a phone conversation they had this week.
Carmen Ganser prays during a moment of silence after it was announced that former first lady Barbara Bush had died, before a talk in the Concept of the Divine series at the Rothko Chapel, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in Houston. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A tearful Laura Bush added that watching her mother-in-law taught her "how to be a first lady, and I'm so grateful for her example."
This combination of images provided by the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, in College Station, Texas, shows a love letter, dated Dec. 12, 1943, to Barbara Bush from then-fiance, George H.W. Bush. The letter circulated after Barbara Bush's death Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at age 92. (George Bush Presidential Library and Museum via AP)
Gorbachev, whose last years in office overlapped George H.W. Bush's presidency, remembered Barbara Bush as warm and astute, saying "she immediately developed a warm relationship" with his wife. Gorbachev visited with the Bushes at the former president's library at Texas A&M University, where Barbara Bush will be buried.
Visitors walk through an exhibit for former first Lady Barbara Bush at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Barbara Bush died Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the age of 92. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
That fact, he said, is buoyed by stories about Barbara Bush's warmth and wit following her death. Tributes have rolled in from around the world, from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to a U.S. Navy commander, who recalled Mrs. Bush handing out cookies to sailors on a battleship.
"I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world, and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact," the nation's 41st president said in a statement released Wednesday.
FILE - In this March 22, 1989 file photo, first lady Barbara Bush holds an infant identified as Donavan during a visit to Grandma's House in Washington. Grandma's House serves as a house for infants and small children infected with the AIDS virus. A family spokesman said Tuesday, April 17, 2018, that former first lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)
CORRECTS YEAR OF PHOTO TO 1988, INSTEAD OF 1998 - FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1988, file photo, President-elect George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are shown during a morning beachfront news conference in Gulf Stream, Fla. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
His wife died Tuesday as their Houston home, where he held her hand, all day, before she died at age 92. They had been married longer than any other presidential couple.
The former president referred to his wife as "The Enforcer," a term of endearment bestowed by her family as she ran their household while he pursued careers in the Texas oil business and later politics and public service. He said the outpouring of support and friendship toward his wife following her death "is lifting us all up."
FILE - In this March 8, 2017, file photo, the Mensch International Foundation presented its annual Mensch Award to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush at an awards ceremony hosted by Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)
Clarissa Lockett holds a sign reading "Prayers for the Bush Family" across the street from the gated community where former first lady Barbara Bush died earlier in the day, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Their son, former President George W. Bush, told an audience at his presidential library in Dallas on Wednesday that his mother was "funny to the end." He recalled a phone conversation they had this week.
"The day before she died, I said 'Mom, I just want you know you've been a fabulous mother and I love you dearly.' And she said, 'I want you to know that you're my favorite son — on the phone,'" Bush told the audience.
"I hope you don't feel sorry for any of us, particularly me," he added. He said he was at peace because his mother was at peace. "She believes in an afterlife and was joyously looking forward to that afterlife," he said.
Amanda Gross holds the hands of her 6-year-old son, Patrick Henry, as they pray outside of the gated community where former first lady Barbara Bush died earlier in the day, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Carmen Ganser prays during a moment of silence after it was announced that former first lady Barbara Bush had died, before a talk in the Concept of the Divine series at the Rothko Chapel, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in Houston. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A tearful Laura Bush added that watching her mother-in-law taught her "how to be a first lady, and I'm so grateful for her example."
Other tributes heralded the former first lady as a warm woman of strength devoted to not only her family, but to child and adult literacy programs.
Current first lady Melania Trump, who will attend Barbara Bush's funeral on Saturday in Houston, praised her for putting "family and country above all else." Among her greatest achievements, President Donald Trump added in a statement, "was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection."
Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush are interviewed by host Maria Bartiromo, not pictured, on the "Mornings with Maria Bartiromo" program on the Fox Business Network at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in Dallas. Bush spoke about his mother, Barbara Bush, the wife of former President George H.W. Bush, who died Tuesday. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
This combination of images provided by the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, in College Station, Texas, shows a love letter, dated Dec. 12, 1943, to Barbara Bush from then-fiance, George H.W. Bush. The letter circulated after Barbara Bush's death Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at age 92. (George Bush Presidential Library and Museum via AP)
Gorbachev, whose last years in office overlapped George H.W. Bush's presidency, remembered Barbara Bush as warm and astute, saying "she immediately developed a warm relationship" with his wife. Gorbachev visited with the Bushes at the former president's library at Texas A&M University, where Barbara Bush will be buried.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to the former president offering his condolences.
Jeanne Wagner pauses after signing a condolence book at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Former first lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the age of 92. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Visitors walk through an exhibit for former first Lady Barbara Bush at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Barbara Bush died Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the age of 92. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Kuwaiti leader Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah sent letters of condolence to the Bush family, according to the state-run news agency KUNA. The Arab nation has long celebrated George H.W. Bush for securing its freedom from Iraqi occupation in the 1991 Gulf War, and Barbara Bush was warmly welcomed when she visited Kuwait in 1993 and 2001.
Former President Barack Obama said he and former first lady Michelle Obama would always be grateful to Barbara Bush "for the generosity she showed to us throughout our time in the White House."
"But we're even more grateful for the way she lived her life — as a testament to the fact that public service is an important and noble calling; as an example of the humility and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit," Obama said.
Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter called Mrs. Bush the "matriarch of a family dedicated to serving."
Barbara Bush's funeral will be held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, which she and her husband regularly attended. The church will host a public viewing Friday. The funeral Saturday will be by invitation only.
An "uplifting celebration" of Barbara Bush's life will be held Thursday evening outside Houston City Hall. City officials encouraged people to wear blue, her favorite color, along with pearls, which became her signature neckwear jewelry. City Hall was being bathed in blue lights in her honor.