Sheila Oliver funeral: Late NJ lieutenant governor to lie in state for second day at historic courthouse
ESSEX COUNTY, N.J. - A three-day celebration of life for late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver continues into its second day as she lies in state at the historic courthouse in Essex County Friday.
She was escorted to the Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark by the Honor Guard of the New Jersey State Police after lying in state in the statehouse rotunda in Trenton during the first day of celebration.
A rotating Honor Guard from the Essex County Sheriff's Office is keeping watch, standing by Oliver's remains as the public, and fellow lawmakers honor the trailblazer's legacy.
On Thursday, thousands of people, including Gov. Phil Murphy, several lawmakers, and numerous mourners, gathered to pay their respects.
Thousands turn out to pay respects to late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver in first of 3-day celebration of life
Thousands, including legislators, Gov. Phil Murphy and mourners poured into the statehouse rotunda Thursday to mourn the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, whose U.S. flag-draped casket lay in state just over a week since she died.
Oliver, who was the first Black woman elected to statewide office in New Jersey history, as well as the first Black woman to be Assembly speaker, died after a hospital stay for an undisclosed medical issue. She was 71.
"God Bless Sheila," Gov. Murphy said after a New Jersey State Police honor guard placed U.S. flag-draped casket near the state seal.
Murphy ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for a month and commissioned a portrait of her that he has said would hang in the statehouse.
In addition to serving as Murphy’s top deputy, stepping in while he was out of the state, Oliver also oversaw the Department of Community Affairs, which coordinates state aid to towns and cities and supervises code enforcement.
Oliver served in the Assembly, where she was elected speaker in 2010. She served in that role until 2014, returning to the back benches when Murphy tapped her to be his running mate in 2017. They won the election that year and were reelected together in 2021.
She began her legislative career in 2003, when she won an Assembly seat in native Essex County. Before that she served on the Essex County board of chosen freeholders from 1996 to 1999.
Born and raised in Newark, she earned a sociology degree from Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University and had a master's degree in community organization from Columbia University.
A memorial service for the late lieutenant governor will be held Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart with eulogies by Al Sharpton and Gov. Murphy.