Hundreds of individuals — from governors and lawmakers to clergy and one legendary pop singer — gathered inside a towering cathedral in Newark on Saturday to bid a ultimate farewell to the late New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver in a stirring, four-hour public funeral.

Oliver, the primary Black lady to function speaker of the New Jersey Assembly after which the primary to carry a statewide elected place, was remembered as a “trailblazer,” a “champion,” and a “giant,” 10 days after she died last week of undisclosed causes whereas nonetheless in workplace at age 71.

In the occasion’s important eulogy, the Rev. Al Sharpton famous Oliver by no means “backed down,” “sold out” or “turned her back on the people that made her.” He stated “she was and is ours and always will be ours,” and in contrast to another Black leaders, “never had amnesia” about her background.

“When she was in the room, we were in the room,” Sharpton advised the viewers as Oliver’s closed, American flag-draped casket sat on the foot of the stage on the ornate Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in her hometown. “What made Sheila Oliver what she became is she never forgot and she never let the folks in the room forget why she was in the room.”

“God gave us Sheila Oliver,” he added.

MORE: N.J. Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, a pioneering public servant, dies

Oliver, a Democrat elected twice as Gov. Phil Murphy’s second-in-command, is the primary elected official within the state’s government department to die in workplace since William Livingston, New Jersey’s first governor, in 1790.

Murphy’s workplace estimated the gang Saturday was about 1,800 folks.

The service was the ultimate a part of of a three-day state memorial tribute to Oliver, who had a three-decade political profession that included time as an East Orange college board member and an Essex County freeholder, 14 years as a member of the state Assembly, 4 years as its speaker, and 5 1/2 years because the state’s second-ever lieutenant governor.

No different lady of coloration in state historical past has been Assembly speaker or held elected statewide workplace.

Saturday’s service got here after Oliver’s casket lay in state on the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday — the primary time in New Jersey historical past an individual was given such an honor on the state capitol — after which at the Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark on Friday.

An extended collection of audio system remembered Oliver on the funeral, not simply as a determine who broke obstacles however one who spent years battling for social and racial justice, reasonably priced housing, abortion rights, and more durable gun legal guidelines, and serving to folks of all communities.

Many in contrast her to Shirley Chisholm, the New York politician who was the primary Black lady to serve in Congress and the primary to run for a major-party nomination for president.

Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake, a fellow Essex County Democrat who took over Oliver’s seat within the chamber, stated “ego was not her choice of drug.”

“She was authentic,” Timberlake stated from a lectern in entrance of Oliver’s casket. “And Lord knows, that’s all the people want — an authentic leader.”

Oliver was additionally remembered as a job mannequin for ladies of coloration who’ve adopted her.

“She was the moral compass in a room full of men, often drunk with power,” Timberlake stated. “She took the political lashes for us.”

Timberlake referred to as on Black girls within the room to face up.

“She was ours,” the lawmaker stated.

She then requested everybody within the room to face.

“Because she was yours, too.”

State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, the highest-ranking Latino within the historical past of the New Jersey Legislation, referred to as Oliver a “phenomenal human being” who “understood government could work to protect people.”

“And she did that every single day,” Ruiz stated. “She was often the only woman of color in the room.”

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Twelfth Dist. — the primary Black lady to symbolize New Jersey in Congress — referred to as Oliver a “champion.”

“We put her up there on that pedestal because she belonged there,” Watson Coleman stated.

Oliver’s 97-year-old mom, Jennie Oliver, was seated within the crowd however didn’t converse.

Among these in attendance have been six sitting or former New Jersey governors: Tom Kean, Christie Whitman, Donald DiFrancesco, Jim McGreevey, Jon Corzine, and Murphy.

The Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries, a former New Jersey secretary of state and congressional candidate who presided over the service, stated “New Jersey has lost a giant” and famous Murphy “might not have been governor” if he didn’t faucet Oliver as his prime deputy.

“Buster got that right,” Murphy stated. “I wouldn’t be standing here.”

The governor referred to as Oliver “one of the finest public servants our state — and if I may be so bold, our nation — has ever seen.”

“She never settled for simply breaking one glass ceiling after another,” Murphy stated. “Each time Sheila made history, she dedicated herself to breaking down barriers for everyone else.”

While euphoric gospel music was the soundtrack Saturday, pop legend Dionne Warwick, an East Orange native, didn’t carry out. She did talk about her friendship with Oliver.

“Sheila was very dear to me,” Warwick, 82, advised the gang. “We had an awful lot in common.”

She even gave Oliver a nickname: “My hat lady.”

“This lady knew how to wear a hat,” Warwick stated.

“I am truly gonna miss her. She was my champion, and she championed me through it all.”

A State Police bagpipe squadron performed “Amazing Grace” on the finish of the service. A non-public burial was scheduled for later Saturday.

Sharpton, the civil rights chief and former presidential candidate, famous he doesn’t ship many eulogies anymore as a result of “the hardest job of a preacher is to preach at the funeral of an irrelevant person.”

“But the fact is: Sheila Oliver eulogized her own funeral,” he stated. “Because her work speaks for itself.”

Sharpton additionally famous this can be a “strange time” in America.

“But we are built for these times,” he stated. “Sheila taught us how to be strong.”

“She paid a price for us. Don’t mourn for Sheila today and shame her on Monday. Don’t praise her today and mock her on Monday. Leave here determined to keep on fighting for what she did.”

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Brent Johnson could also be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @johnsb01.