Reports: Whitney Houston Burial Expected on Sunday
Rumors continue to circulate as to when and where the late pop star will be laid to rest.
Photos
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 be laid to rest.
Area residents who have relatives buried at the 105-acre East Broad Street cemetery expressed concern for their loved ones' graves, as celebrities and paparazzi are expected to swarm the area.
They have "no need for concern," according to a receptionist at Fairview Cemetery. The integrity of the plots is always of the utmost concern, she added.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the Westfield Police Department could not confirm whether or not they had been advised that the late pop diva would be entombed at Fairview, or if additional patrols will be dispatched to the area during the private invitation-only funeral. The funeral will be available for viewing via the Internet.
Houston's family is considering burying her at least one day after the funeral, according to NJ.com.
This morning, a receptionist at Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, which is handling the funeral arrangements for the family, also declined to comment on where and when the singer would be laid to rest.
"That's confidential," the receptionist said. "I've been advised not to answer that."
Houston's body was discovered on the afternoon of Feb. 11 in a bathtub in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, just hours before she was scheduled to attend a pre-Grammy Awards function. The official cause of death has not yet been released.
The late singer's body was flown from Los Angeles to Newark on Monday night. A hearse then transported Houston to the funeral home, where services for her father were held in 2003.
Concerned Resident
8:15 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
It would be helpful if area residents could be told when the burial will take place so we can plan to avoid the traffic.
Liz Alterman
8:45 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
We absolutely agree and are trying to ascertain that information. We will update the story as soon as any details become available. Thanks, Liz
E Liz
9:05 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
Absolutely - I want to be out of town when this circus arrives. Patch - please try to get more details so we can make plans to get lost!
Mary Meki
5:21 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
that is very rude to call it a circus how would you like for them to call your family member a circus you know God don't like ugly and he is not crazy about pretty so who ever you are you should be very careful with your Words that come out of your Mouth.
Idabelle Ann
9:39 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
It's not a circus. It's paying respect to a love one that just happen to be famous. It was not a circus in your eyes when some one in your family or some u cared about was laid to rest
E Liz
10:18 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
To clarify, the circus I referred to is not the deceased, her family, close friends and loved ones who will be mourning her. It is the media and paparazzi who are currently knocking on doors in the vicinity of the cemetery trying to rent out peoples driveways and rooftops to broadcast the procession and mourners on television and the internet. It is also starstruck gawkers (who despite being asked by the family and police to stay away), will inevetably be driving around trying to get a peek at a celebrity, parking illegaly and creating traffic. As I recall, I did not have to deal with any of that when I buried two close loved ones recently. Celebrity or not, a funeral and burial should not be a media frenzy. Some friends & co-workers who are aware I live in Westfield, have been asking "Are you going to the cemetery...Oprah might be there! I think Beyonce might go! etc." ; to which I reply - "No, I did not know Whitney Houston, so why would I go to her burial?". Unfortunately, that is not the popular opinion, although I wish it was.
Hoof_Hearted
12:08 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
Well said E Liz.
Idabelle Ann
12:50 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
This is what happens when a person buys a home near places near or where famous people live, visit or are buried at
Idabelle Ann
12:52 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
I agree it not right for the media to disturbing people going door to door
Idabelle Ann
1:01 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
There two facts one if she is laid to rest there ur propert vaulue will go up two your neighborhood will not get no rest for a long time
Melissa
1:05 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
i bring my mother to Fairview every weekend to see my dad. It would be nice to know so we can avoid the frenzy. It would be so upsetting to her if we got there and were turned away because the cemetary was closed for a celebrity burial and did not know because that information is "confidental". Her family, the funeral home and anyone involved should have that respect for the other families who loved ones are in their final resting place. It may be a cemetary to some, but its alot more to others. We deserve the same respect from the Houstn family.
Idabelle Ann
1:19 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
If the family said for sure that she would be laid to rest there u think it's bad now it would be a lot worse if people knew for sure
Ginny Johnson
12:58 pm on Saturday, February 18, 2012
Get a life. Let the family bury her and be done with it. Stay home for a weekend
Mrs.Tonya
12:00 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
@Ginny, you are wrong for telling people to stay in doors,everyone has a point here.. True, let the family bury her but life goes on and it should not stop cause some people want to create a scene and be in the mist of media attention, everyone have a right to his or her own opinion.so no one should have to be bottled up for a weekend in there own home, also other relatives might want to visit their love ones to, why should they not