Lady Bird Johnson, former US first lady, die

HOUSTON, July 12 (Reuters) Former US first lady Lady Bird Johnson, 94, died of natural causes at her Austin, Texas, home yesterday, a family spokeswoman said.

Johnson, the widow of former President Lyndon Johnson, had been in frail health for several years following a 2002 stroke, which had left her unable to speak.

In June, Johnson spent six days in an Austin hospital for tests and observation because of a low-grade fever.

Lyndon Johnson, who became president when John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963 and held the office until 1969, died of a heart attack in 1973 at his ranch west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.

REUTERS PDS BST0417