Memorial service for Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver to be held next week

The official arrangements for Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver include opportunities for the public to pay their respects before a memorial service is held next weekend.

Oliver, the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the General Assembly and highest-ranking Black official in state history, died Tuesday at 71.

She will lie in state in the rotunda at the New Jersey Statehouse on Aug. 10. Oliver will be escorted and accompanied by a rotating honor guard from the New Jersey State Police.

On Friday, Aug. 11, Oliver will return to Essex County, where she will lie in state at the Essex County Historic Courthouse with a rotating honor guard from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

Then on Saturday, Aug. 12, a public memorial service will be held at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. After the service, Oliver will be interred in a private ceremony.

Opinion: Sheila Oliver fought for ordinary NJ residents — and set a remarkable example

The events are what the Murphy administration is referring to as a “Celebration of Life” to pay tribute to Oliver’s life and legacy of public service.

“As we come together in shared mourning over the loss of our family member and friend Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, we will remember the legacy she leaves behind as a changemaker and trailblazer,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. “Together, we will honor and celebrate her remarkable contributions to the state she loved, recognizing the profound impact she had on the millions of people who call New Jersey home.”

In a statement, the Oliver family also noted that “Sheila was not only a distinguished public servant, but also our cherished daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero.”

“She leaves behind a legacy of dedication, service, and inspiration. We will remember her commitment to the people of New Jersey and her tireless efforts to uplift the community,” the Oliver family said.

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Oliver was the first Black woman to be speaker of the General Assembly in New Jersey and the second in the nation’s history to lead a house of a state legislature, with Karen Bass of California being the first. She was also the second Black person to serve as New Jersey's Assembly speaker, following S. Howard Woodson in the 1970s. Marion West Higgins, a Bergen County Republican, was the first woman to hold that role, in 1965.

Throughout her tenure, Oliver stepped up to serve as acting governor when Murphy was out of state or otherwise unavailable. Those responsibilities took on a new meaning in March 2020: With Murphy receiving treatment for cancer, Oliver provided a steadfast poise for residents to follow as the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed.

Murphy said Tuesday that when he selected Oliver to be his running mate in 2017, she was “already a trailblazer in every sense of the word.”

“I knew then that her decades of public service made her the ideal partner for me to lead the State of New Jersey. It was the best decision I ever made," Murphy said in his statement.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Sheila Oliver funeral services in NJ announced after death