Sunday, February 19, 2012
Larissa DePalma flies her flag at half-mast and drapes her handmade portrait to show respect for the late pop icon.
Some Westfield residents have complained about the hoopla surrounding the burial of music icon Whitney Houston at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. But one resident insists that despite limited access to the cemetery this weekend, road closures in the area and the media spotlight all over town, Houston's choice of Westfield for her final resting place is worth any potential inconvenience. And she's making her support for the late superstar visible for all to see. On the front lawn of freelance artist Larissa DePalma's home on St. Mark's Ave., a U.S. flag stands at half-mast. The house itself features a banner with a drawing of Houston's face in black ink, along with a message: RIP Whitney. "I'm an '80s girl," DePalma explained. "With …
Procession arrived at noon Sunday for burial ceremony at Fairview Cemetery. Nearly 100 fans shouted 'We love you, Whitney' as hearse turned into the cemetery.
The vigil at Fairview Cemetery began at first light Sunday morning. There were no mourners, just reporters and photographers mingling congenially as they staked out a good spot for their reports back to the network morning shows or a position for the perfect photo of the funeral procession bringing Whitney Houston to the cemetery for her burial. Police officers arrived before daylight, at 6 a.m., to secure every possible corner of the Fairview property, from the Cranford border along Union County College to the south and E. Broad Street to the north. At the western end of the cemetery, Gallows Hill Road was closed to prevent any neighborhood street from messing up any potential route in which the procession of hearses and limos that would …
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Gray Funeral Home
318 E Broad St, Westfield, NJ
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
Visits to gravesites denied Saturday as cemetery prepares for Sunday burial of music icon Whitney Houston.
Roseanne Benjamin lost her father on Feb. 18, 2008 after a long struggle with colon cancer. Her father Dave was a long-time Westfield resident, and there was no question in Roseanne's mind that when he passed, he would be buried in Fairview Cemetery. For the past four years, Benjamin, who now lives in Cranford, would stop by her father's grave to tell him about how his granddaughter was getting married, or how his grandson got into college. But on the fourth anniversary of his death, Benjamin won't be able to place a bouquet of flowers on his grave. She won't even be allowed in the cemetery. "I understand what a tragedy it is that Whitney Houston died, she was the voice of a generation," she said on the phone. "But just because she is …
Many of the top female singers in the world packed New Hope Baptist Church to honor the singer.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
Saturday's celebrity-packed funeral for Newark native Whitney Houston included some of the most respected female singers in music today, including Roberta Flack, Mary J. Blige, Dionne Warwick, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys.
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The New Hope Baptist Church
106 Sussex Ave, Newark, NJ
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To accommodate the Sunday morning funeral procession of Whitney Houston, police are closing roads around Fairview Cemetery.
Amy Harrett says she is a Whitney Houston fan, but she won't line up on East Broad Street to watch the pop icon's funeral procession turn into Westfield's Fairview Cemetery. "It's going to be a madhouse," said Harrett, who lives close to the cemetery. "There is going to be a ton of people here — the media, fans, everyone. I don't want to say it's an inconvenience, but I know I won't be able to get anything done if I stay here." Harrett says that after policemen knocked on her door yesterday to tell her that her street would be closed to accommodate Houston's burial, she called her mother to plan a visit. She's leaving tonight and will spend Sunday at her mother's house in Queens. "I don't want to be trapped here because of her funeral," …
Jennifer Hudson, Roberta Flack, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Costner, Gov. Christie, Mayor Booker all in attendance.
Newark's own, singer Whitney Houston, was welcomed home to the church where she began her singing career Saturday, in a rousing gospel-flavored funeral service before an audience of family, friends and celebrities. "Whitney, today is your day," the Rev. Joe A. Carter, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, said in beginning the service. A powerful choir of more than 100 singers, backed by a band that included drums and bass and horns, provided an emotional backdrop to a procession of singers, most of them from the world of gospel music. Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry spoke of what he termed the grace that carried Houston through her life. "There was a grace that carried her down through Miss Cissy Houston, a grace that brought her up through …
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The New Hope Baptist Church
106 Sussex Ave, Newark, NJ
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1957866
/locations/6408431
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Rumors continue to circulate as to when and where the late pop star will be laid to rest.
As cruisers from the Westfield and Union County police departments came and went through the front gate of the Fairview Cemetery Thursday, Fairview officials were issuing "no comments" to a barrage of calls from reporters seeking comment and details about the burial plans for Whitney Houston — and calming down concerned family members of those already interred in the Westfield cemetery. Houston's funeral service will be held at noon Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. The ceremony is expected to draw 1,500 mourners, including her mother, Cissy Houston, cousin Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Kevin Costner and Clive Davis. While those details appear to be firm, speculation swirls around when Houston's body will…
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Is the pop singer's death worthy of such an honor? Tell us what you think.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ordered flags to be flown at half staff throughout the state during Whitney Houston's funeral Saturday in honor of late pop singer's death. The 48-year-old music icon's body was found in the bathtub of her Beverly Hills hotel room Saturday afternoon. Gov. Christie said Houston was a "cultural icon" who belongs in the same category in New Jersey music history as legendary singers such as Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and rocker Bruce Springsteen. The governor called Houston's accomplishments in the music industry "a great source of pride for the people of the state." Flags are typically flown at half staff in honor of police and military personnel killed in the line of duty. The honor is also extended …
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The late pop singer will reportedly be buried next to her father in Fairview Cemetery.
New information indicates that late pop singer Whitney Houston will be buried alongside her father in Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. Entertainment website TMZ is reporting that, acoording to Houston's death certificate, the Newark native will be buried in Union County. Earlier this week, Kara Whigham of Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, which is handling the funeral arrangements for the family, said a location for Houston had not been chosen. A receptionist at Fairview Cemetery also stated that no arrangements had been made for Houston to be buried in the plot with her father, the late John Russell Houston, who died in 2003. However, the receptionist also indicated that "at the request of the family" the exact location of John Houston's …
Mourners hold candlelight vigil, sing along to Houston's hit songs outside Newark funeral home.
Whitney Houston is finally home. The singer's body was returned to her native Newark shortly before midnight Monday amid a throng of screaming fans who waited hours for the hearse to arrive at Whigham Funeral Home. Surrounded by heavy police presence, a gold-colored car with blacked out windows dropped off Houston's casket, concealed by a white tent, at a back entrance off Shipman Street. Houston's mother, Cissy, and other family members were seen filing into the funeral home about 15 minutes before the hearse arrived. Houston, who was found dead at age 48 inside a Beverly Hills hotel room Saturday, was flown from California to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey for the wake and public memorial that may be held in Newark later this week. "She…
REGINA NIX
3:19 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
absolutely magnificent!!! u go girl!!! more ›