Thousands mourn King
published: Wednesday | February 8, 2006

Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., acknowledges a standing ovation before speaking at the 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service in Atlanta, in this January 19, 2004 file photo. - REUTERS

LITHONIA, GA., (REUTERS):

United States President George W. Bush, three former presidents and thousands of others filled a Georgia church yesterday to mourn Coretta Scott King, who took up the fight for racial equality in America after the assassination of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968.

Mrs. King, seen by many as the 'first lady' of the U.S. civil rights movement, died last week in a Mexican alternative health clinic at the age of 78, after complications from ovarian cancer and a recent debilitating stroke and heart attack.