Connally

Austin, Sept. 3 (AP): Nellie Connally, the former Texas first lady who was riding in President John F. Kennedy’s Limousine when he was assassinated, has died, a family friend said. The 87-year-old was the last living person who had been part of that fateful Dallas drive.

Connally, had said the most enduring image she had of the November 22, 1963, assassination was of a mixture of blood and roses.

“It’s the image of yellow roses and red roses and blood all over the car... All over us,” she said in a 2003 interview. “I’ll never forget it.... It was so quick and so short, so potent.”

As the Limousine wound its way through the friendly crowd in downtown Dallas, Connally turned to Kennedy, who was in a seat behind her, and said, “Mr President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you.”

Almost immediately, she heard the first of what she later concluded were three gunshots in quick succession.