Whitney Houston’s Mother, Cousin Dionne Warwick Leave NJ Funeral Home
Feb. 15 2012, Published 5:00 a.m. ET
Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy and cousin Dionne Warwick were seen leaving Newark, New Jersey’s Whigham Funeral Home Tuesday, where the singer will be laid to rest following her untimely death at 48 in Beverly Hills Saturday.
The singer will be remembered at an invitation-only service at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church Saturday. Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Marvin Winans -- a family friend who officiated Houston’s 1992 wedding to Bobby Brown -- will deliver the eulogy, according to his office.
Funeral home owner Carolyn Whigham confirmed Tuesday there would not be any event commemorating Houston at the 18,000-seat Prudential Center, as there was talk of a memorial service similar to the one held for Michael Jackson at the Staples Center following his 2009 death.
"This is their time now for their farewell," Whigham told the AP Tuesday. "The family thanks all the fans, the friends and the media, but this time is their private time.”
Cissy Houston "was at the funeral home until 2 a.m." Tuesday and "made it clear that a funeral must be inside a church, and the Prudential Center is not an appropriate venue," a source told US magazine.
As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, officials have wrapped up The Greatest Love of All singer’s autopsy, but it might be several weeks before they can determine what killed the Grammy-winner. A source told us exclusively police found Lorazepam, Valium and a sleeping medication in the Beverly Hilton hotel room she was found in.
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The I Wanna Dance With Somebody singer, who sought help for a crack addiction last year, was seen in public for the final time late Thursday in Hollywood, looking disheveled and sporting cuts as she left a club.
Houston was slated to attend at a pre-Grammy Awards bash held by producer Clive Davis the day she was found dead; her family is upset Davis continued with the bash following the singer’s death.
"Even if Whitney had given her blessing for the party to continue, even that doesn't make it OK. Her body was lying in a room upstairs, dead, for heaven's sake. It was simply in bad taste, period,” a source told RadarOnline.com. “The family just feels like it was very insensitive for the party to continue.”
Stay with RadarOnline.com for more on the shocking death of Whitney Houston.
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