Tito's widow Jovanka Broz passes away in Belgrade

Jovanka Broz, widow of Josip Broz Tito, late President and Marshal of former Yugoslavia, passed away aged 89 on Sunday in Belgrade Clinical Center, local media reported. Broz was taken to hospital in difficult condition on Aug. 23, and after a brief recovery her health swiftly deteriorated and she went into coma, from which she never came out. As a member of the Yugoslav Partisan Army, Jovanka Broz came out of WWII with the rank of Captain (Lieutenant), and was twice decorated for personal courage. She married Tito in 1952 until their separation in 1977 without official divorce, three years before the Yugoslav Marshal died in 1980. After her husband's death, Broz lived in almost absolute solitude in villa in elite part of Belgrade, without any luxury and often in difficult conditions, but always strictly keeping out of public eye. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has sent a telegram with condolence to Broz family, Serbian National Television reported, stating that the Serbian government will honor Broz's wish to be buried next to her husband, in Josip Broz Tito's Memorial in Belgrade.