RIP Coretta Scott King -- 1927-2006

Though we know that death is part of the normal course of life, it is still sad when people from a critical era begin to die off.

Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died, former mayor Andrew Young told NBC Tuesday morning. She was 78.

Young, who was a former civil rights activist and was close to the King family, broke the news during a phone call he made to the NBC "Today" show.

Asked how he found out about her death, Young said, "I understand she was asleep last night and her daughter tried to wake her up."

King had been recovering at home since suffering a stroke and heart attack in August.

She was last seen in public when she made a surprise appearance at a fundraiser on what would have been her husband's 77th birthday earlier this month.

She smiled from her wheelchair as she was greeted with a standing ovation and thunderous applause from a crowd of 15-hundred at the Salute to Greatness Dinner at the King Center.

Coretta King was a supportive lieutenant to her husband during the most tumultuous days of the American civil rights movement.

The Kings were married in 1953 and had four children, Martin Luther III, Yolanda, Dexter and Bernice. After her husband’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, King kept his dream alive by starting the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, based in Atlanta.