AKRON, Ohio -- A sad reminder that life is short.
The owner of an Akron restaurant where President Obama had breakfastFriday morning died of an apparent heart attack just hours later.
Josephine "Ann" Harris, 70, hugged Obama when he stopped at her family's restaurant, Ann's Place, on the second day of his Ohio-Pennsylvania bus tour.
Obama phoned Wilma Parsons, Harris' daughter, from Air Force One on his way back to Washington from his last campaign bus stop in Pittsburgh.
"The president expressed his sorrow and his condolences," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. "He was honored to meet her this morning and passed on his feelings that the whole family is in his thoughts and prayers today."
From the Akron Beacon Journal:
"I'm sure this was her highlight," said Frankie Adkins, Harris' sister, who lives in Tulsa, Okla., and heard about her sister's sudden death from family members. "She loved Obama."
Obama stopped in Ann's Place for breakfast about 8:30 a.m. Harris was ecstatic about his visit when a Beacon Journal reporter spoke to her shortly afterward.
