PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Hundreds attended a memorial service for New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver Saturday morning, the final part of a three-day celebration of life for the late lawmaker.
Oliver died on Aug. 1 after a brief hospital stay for an undisclosed medical issue. She was 71.
At the time, she was serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy was on vacation overseas.
She lied in state in the state House rotunda on Thursday and the Essex County Historic Courthouse on Friday. A public memorial service began at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark — the city where Oliver grew up and attended high school.
Many at the service spoke of Oliver’s outreach in New Jersey. Murphy, in particular, talked about how much she loved the state.
“Sheila loved New Jersey like a mother, and she shared that love with us every single day,” he said. “One of the many great tragedies of Sheila’s loss is that our work together was far from finished.”
Live feed of memorial service
“I can’t remember a time they dealt with my activism in New Jersey that Sheila Oliver was not there,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered Oliver’s eulogy.
Oliver was the first Black woman elected to statewide office in New Jersey history, as well as the first Black woman to be Assembly speaker. She was first elected to the General Assembly in 2003, then became speaker in 2010.
She was also the state’s first Black lieutenant governor.
In a video montage, mourners heard in Oliver’s own words what it meant to her.
“I do represent the hopes and the dreams of the slaves,” she said in the video. “So when older Black adults who may have lived through Jim Crow or segregation or never got the opportunity to get the education that they wanted, when they see me, it’s sort of fulfilling for them.”
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As a lawmaker, she worked on projects relating to fair housing, community revamping, and homelessness prevention. She also championed the rights of caregivers, financial literacy for youths, wage equity, and transformative justice.
After the memorial service, Oliver was interred in a private ceremony.