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Hundreds of New Jerseyans gathered to celebrate the life of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver Saturday in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Gov. Phil Murphy, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Dionne Warwick were among the speakers memorializing Oliver, who died last week at 71. The ceremony concluded three days of memorials in Trenton and Newark. “Sheila loved New Jersey like a mother, and she shared that love with us every single day,” Murphy said of his two-time running mate. Oliver, who was elected to the Assembly in 2003 and...

Oliver’s journey away from digging up history to making it then began. Over four hours on Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Oliver’s hometown, hundreds of mourners bid their final farewell to New Jersey’s first Black woman to hold statewide office and, before that, first Black female speaker of the Assembly. Her funeral capped a three-day tribute to Oliver that began Thursday with her body lying in state at the Capitol building in Trenton and again at the Essex County courthouse on Friday. Oliver died earlier...

Crowds of friends, family and leading New Jersey politicians gathered at Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart Saturday to memorialize the life of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver — a trailblazing political leader who became the first Black woman to lead New Jersey's state Assembly and win statewide office. More than 1,000 mourners gathered for the standing-room-only ceremony at the cathedral — the fifth-largest in North America — as speaker after speaker testified to Oliver's legacy and her contributions — from her hometown of East Orange to all corners of...

Hundreds of people — including governors, members of Congress, state lawmakers, local leaders, prominent clergy, and one legendary pop singer — gathered inside a towering cathedral in Newark on Saturday to bid a final farewell to the late New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. Oliver, the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the New Jersey Assembly and then the first to hold a statewide elected position, was remembered during a stirring four-hour public memorial service 10 days after she died last week of undisclosed causes while still in...

NEWARK — She showed up, stood up, spoke up and she didn’t back down. New Jersey bid farewell to the first Black woman elected to statewide office in the state in a solemn but energetic service under the vaulted ceilings of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver’s hometown of Newark. It was an occasion marked by soaring oratory and Gospel music as civil rights and political leaders praised Oliver for breaking through barriers at a time when few woman political leaders were in office.....

The celebration of the life and legacy of New Jersey trailblazer Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver comes to an end with a final farewell during a memorial service Saturday. Oliver, the first Black woman elected to statewide office in New Jersey history, as well as the first Black woman to be Assembly speaker, died at the age of 71 after a hospital stay for an undisclosed medical issue. Over the past two days, thousands have poured in to honor the late lieutenant governor as she laid in state at the statehouse...

The state funeral and memorial service for New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Gov. Phil Murphy and the Rev. Al Sharpton will both give eulogies. Long lines of mourners paid respect to the path-breaking elected leader during two days that her body laid in state. A gold hearse with the state seal on its door carried her flag-draped coffin to the rotunda at the state capitol on Thursday. Then, her coffin was brought...

Essex County said goodbye Friday to Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, a Newark native and East Orange resident who went on to powerful statewide positions in Trenton but retained the admiration and affection of people back home. Hundreds of local and state officials led by Gov. Phil Murphy, plus family members, friends and admirers went to the Essex County Historic Courthouse to pay their respects to Oliver, a Democrat who was New Jersey’s first woman of color elected to statewide office. Oliver died Aug. 1 of an undisclosed illness at 71....

NEWARK, N.J. -- Sheila Oliver, the late lieutenant governor of New Jersey, was taken to the historic Essex County Courthouse in Newark on Friday to lie in state. It's where Oliver, 71, spent much of her career before she broke barriers and became the first Black woman elected lieutenant governor. Newark police and Essex County sheriff motorcycle units escorted Oliver's casket from Trenton, where she was lying in state at the capitol rotunda. Gov. Phil Murphy, the first lady and a delegation of public officials deeply connected to Oliver over...

A 3-day celebration of life for late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver continues into its second day as she lies in state at a historic courthouse in Essex County Friday. She will be escorted to the Essex County Historic Courthouse by the Honor Guard of the New Jersey State Police after lying in state in the statehouse rotunda during the first day of celebration. A rotating Honor Guard from the Essex County Sheriff's Office will accompany Oliver's remains for 12 hours as the public, and fellow lawmakers honor the trailblazer's legacy....