The hearse traveled from Teterboro Airport, where officials had told The Associated Press Houston's body would arrive Monday night over a flight from the Chicago area.
Several officials knowledgeable about funeral planning said arrangements were being manufactured by Newark's Whigham Funeral Home, which handled the 2003 funeral of Houston's father. They spoke for the AP on Monday on condition of anonymity given that they weren't authorized to communicate for Houston's family.
Houston died Saturday with a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 48. Officials say she was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled coming from a bathtub.
A woman in the funeral home, where several police were stationed, said she could neither confirm nor deny reports it would handle Houston's arrangements. A white tent was setup leading into the funeral home's rear entrance, as well as opulent golden sarcophaguses stood in front entrance.
Dozens of Houston fans visited the funeral home, where they played her songs, sang, lit candles to keep in mind her and hoped to obtain a glimpse of her casket.
Houston came to be in Newark and spent my childhood years in nearby East Orange. Her family raised the opportunity of holding a wake Thursday along with a funeral Friday at Newark's Prudential Center, which hosts college and professional sports entertainment and seats about 18,000 people. City officials were awaiting the household's arrival to complete the funeral planning.
A photo of Houston appeared Monday night around the electronic board outside of the arena, one of the nation's busiest entertainment venues, with an all new Jersey Devils game Friday night posing a logistical challenge to some planned funeral tomorrow.
Houston's relatives also were debating whether or not to have a smaller service at New Hope Baptist Church, where members of the family have sung. They planned in order to meet Tuesday with officials to finalize information, according to someone who had understanding of the planning but wasn't authorized to communicate publicly about it and requested anonymity.
Houston began singing growing up at New Hope Baptist Church, where her mother, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston, led the background music program for many years. Her cousin singer Dionne Warwick also sang in their choir.
On Monday, mourners left flowers, balloons and candles for Houston with the wrought-iron fence around the tall brick church, which sits close to the edge of an abandoned housing project nearby the train line bringing about New York City.
"She was a motivation to everybody," said Gregory Hanks, an actress who grew up within the neighborhood and who delivered a bouquet of flowers.
Hanks said he saw Houston perform on the New Jersey Performing Arts Center years back.
"I grew up listening to her like a little boy, and to hear her sing, you knew she was special," the 26-year-old said.
Sandy Farrow, a technology consultant from Mitchellville, Md., who had been in the area visiting relatives, said she would be a senior at Clifford J. Scott Secondary school in East Orange when Houston was obviously a freshman.
"We felt like she put East Orange in the spotlight," she said.
Farrow said Houston's death came being a shock.
"We lost a person who I thought, after all her troubles, was returning," Farrow said.
Next door from the church, Bashir Rasheed create shop with a bag full of T-shirts reading "In Memory of Whitney Houston 1963-2012." He explained he had sold 24 shirts at $10 apiece in just a few hours.
source : http://music.yahoo.com/news/hearse-arrives-nj-funeral-home-handling-houston-050120990.html
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