Barbara Bush, in what her spokesman called “failing health,” had traded further medical treatments for comfort care at home —that included the “alert” 92-year-old former first lady enjoying phone calls, conversation and bourbon. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, the Office of George H. W. Bush confirmed her death, saying in a statement, “A former First Lady of the United States of America and relentless proponent of family literacy, Barbara Pierce Bush passed away Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the age of 92.” 
 
 Hours before her death, the Bushes’ longtime friend Ambassador C. Boyden Gray, who was White House counsel to Barbara’s husband of 73 years, former president George H.W. Bush, told PEOPLE: “Some of the recent emails indicate she is not quite ready to sign off. She’s answering all of her phone calls herself.” 
 
 And a source close to the Bush family told CBS News reporter Jenna Gibson on Tuesday that, while Barbara’s chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) made breathing difficult, “she is alert and was having conversations last night. She was also having a bourbon.” 
 
 A source close to the Bush family tells CBS News' Jenna Gibson that, while Mrs. Bush's COPD makes it difficult for her to breathe, she is alert and was having conversations last night. She was also having a bourbon. — Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 17, 2018 
 
 On Sunday, a family spokesman announced that Bush decided not to seek additional medical treatment despite her “failing health.” 
 
 RELATED: Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dies at 92: ‘A Woman Unlike Any Other’ 
 
 The former first lady had a lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure, according to numerous reports. 
 
 RELATED VIDEO: Former First Lady Barbara Bush Isn’t Seeking Medical Treatment Despite ‘Failing Health’ 
 
 Bush was long been known for her strength, and her family called her “The Enforcer.” 
 
 In a statement Sunday from the office of the former president, spokesman Jim McGrath said that Bush was not thinking of herself but others: “It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others. She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.” ||||| Barbara Bush: Lesser-known facts about former first lady 
 
 CLOSE Barbara Pierce Bush, the former first lady, died at her Houston home Tuesday after a long struggle with congestive heart failure and pulmonary disease. The down-to-earth matriarch who saw both her husband and son win the White House, was 92. USA TODAY 
 
 The wife of America's 41st president and mother to its 43rd, Barbara Bush has been among the nation's most prominent and respected women for decades. USA TODAY looks at some facts about her life you may not be aware of. 
 
 1. She met her husband, George H. W. Bush, at a dance when she was just 16. He was then a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. 
 
 2. Formerly Barbara Pierce, Bush is a distant relative to the country's 14th president, Franklin Pierce. 
 
 3. In the summer of 1943, during World War II, she worked at a nuts-and-bolts factory in Port Chester, N.Y., Bush wrote in her memoir. 
 
 4. In 1969, while her husband served in Congress, Bush began writing a column for Houston newspapers about life in Washington. 
 
 5. She wrote two children's books, C. Fred's Story and Millie's Book. Both were written from the perspective of a family dog. 
 
 6. In her memoir, Bush writes about hosting a wedding luncheon for the daughter of a close friend of Lyndon Johnson in 1970, which the former president attended. Although she said LBJ "could not have been a better guest," she added that her daughter and a friend "were in deep shock" when Johnson snagged the newspaper from the family's front yard when he left. 
 
 7. In an interview with Larry King in 2010, she said of Sarah Palin: "I sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful. And I think she's very happy in Alaska. And I hope she'll stay there." 
 
 8. She recounts in her memoir her irritation at Jane Pauley of the Today show who, during the 1980 New Hampshire GOP primary campaign, asked her during an interview, "Mrs. Bush, people say your husband is a man of the '80s and you are a woman of the '40s. What do you say to that?" The interview had to be reshot after the tape was ruined, Bush wrote. 
 
 9. While George Bush was ambassador to China, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his family visited the Bushes and had Thanksgiving lunch with them. Barbara Bush wrote in her memoir that she could tell during the visit they were being spied on by Chinese authorities. 
 
 10. She writes that she initially "dreaded" attending the 1980 Republican National Convention, but once there, she said she became "very competitive." George Bush would ultimately be tapped during the convention by Ronald Reagan to be his running mate. 
 
 More: Barbara Bush, former first lady and matriarch of Bush family, dies at 92 
 
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 More: Barbara Bush: In her own words, from political prognostication to 'rhymes with rich' 
 
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– The matriarch of the Bush family has died—but family associates say Barbara Bush was her irrepressible self until the very end. "Some of the recent emails indicate she is not quite ready to sign off. She’s answering all of her phone calls herself," family friend C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel to husband George HW Bush, told People hours before the 92-year-old died Tuesday. Another family friend told CBS reporter Jenna Gibson on Tuesday that although she was having difficulty breathing, Bush was "alert and was having conversations last night. She was also having a bourbon." A roundup of coverage: First lady facts. Bush, who was born Barbara Pierce, was not only the wife of the 41st president and mother of the 43rd, she was a distant relative of Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, USA Today reports in a look at lesser-known Barbara Bush facts.