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Local Pastor Who Conducted Ronald Reagan's Funeral Dies

MISSION VIEJO (AP) — The pastor who conducted the burial service for former President Ronald Reagan has died in Southern California.

Michael Wenning was 75.

His wife, Freda, tells the Los Angeles Times that Wenning died Tuesday at his home in Mission Viejo from leukemia and kidney failure.

Wenning was pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2001. Reagan and his wife worshipped at the church.

Wenning presided at Reagan's 2004 burial service at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

In a statement Wednesday, Nancy Reagan says the Bel Air church was an important part of the couple's lives.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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