This week’s top news was dominated by coverage of the funerals held for those killed in the tragic shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The most extensively reported upon funeral was that held for State Senator and Reverend, Clementa Pinckney. Among those attending Pinckney’s service was President Obama, who delivered the eulogy. The President also led the congregation in singing “Amazing Grace.”
New on the Digital Dying blog this week:
 Funeral music sets the tone and honors the deceased |
 John Pope with his wife Diana Pinckley at Victoria Falls in Zambia, during a 2009 safari. “We had a great life together,” said John. (Photo Courtesy of John Pope) To Live and Die in Nola: |
|---|
Weekly News 6/26/2015: Charleston victims laid to rest.
In Charleston Funerals, Remembering Victims of Hate as Symbols of Love
Jun 25, 2015–nytimes.com: In life, they did not mingle with the powerful, leading modest lives centered on family and church. In death, the powerful turned out Thursday, along with the people who knew Ethel Lance and Sharonda Coleman-Singleton best, to celebrate a different kind of power they wielded. “She has to represent something we all know is there — love,” said Brandon Risher, a grandson of Ms. Lance. “She is a victim of hate, but she can be a symbol for love. That is what she was in life. Hate is powerful but love is more powerful… Read the full story
>>Related:
- Obama praises grasp of grace by S.C. pastor
- Owner of NFL’s Carolina Panthers to pay for funerals of the nine victims in Charleston church massacre
- National Cathedral sounds funeral bell for South Carolina church shooting victims
- Barack Obama sings ‘Amazing Grace’ during funeral for Reverend Clementa Pinckney
- State Senator Clementa Pinckney Funeral Service. President Obama gives the Eulogy.
- Charleston continues to bury their dead and demand that their lives ‘lead to change’
Planning a fallen officer’s funeral: An inside look at how the community will honor Sonny Kim
Jun 25, 2015–wpco.com: As tragedy struck our community’s protectors twice in three months, the men and women making it possible for thousands to grieve and honor Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim didn’t have to look far for advice. Members of the Fire Fighters Union Local 48, who took charge of Cincinnati Firefighter Daryl Gordon’s funeral last spring, were among the first to meet with a small group of Cincinnati Police and Fraternal Order of Police leaders who began planning Kim’s funeral last Friday, just hours after he was shot to death in Madisonville… Read the full story
Who Owns the Dead?
Jun 24, 2015–newrepublic.com: It was a Sunday in the autumn of 1995, and Rob Sanders was driving his three kids from his house in Baltimore to the house of his ex-wife, Elizabeth Knox, in Silver Spring, Maryland. The kids rotated who got to sit in the front seat, and today was seven-year-old Alison’s turn. The boys wanted to hear the Redskins game, and when Alison leaned forward to fiddle with the radio, Sanders told her to sit back—he would find it. When he looked up, the light had turned red, and he braked, belatedly. Skidding into the intersection at about 14 miles an hour, he hit another car, and the passenger-side airbag deployed… Read the full story
Q&A: Why a Hollywood Studio’s Former Event Head Is Now Planning Funerals
Jun 24, 2015–bizbash.com: During her 17-year tenure at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Alison Bossert produced hundreds of events while leading the team responsible for creating premieres, award show parties, and gatherings for the studio’s motion picture division: Highlights included all of the Spider-Man 3 openings around the world, partner summits for James Bond films, The Da Vinci Code debut in Cannes, France, the Men in Black bashes, and blowouts for Michael Jackson’s This Is It, among many others…
These 12 Bizarre Caskets Certainly Make for More Interesting Funerals
Jun 18, 2015–businessinsider.com: For some eccentric souls, traditional caskets and cremation urns just won’t do. Luckily, for those looking to leave this world on a more outlandish note, there are options out there to help fulfill those somewhat bizarre afterlife requests. From odes to beloved comic book heroes to soccer ball urns, click ahead to see some truly out-of-the-box options… Read the full story
The Battle for Arlington National Cemetery
Jun 15, 2015–mentalfloss.com: Arlington National Cemetery is known as one of the largest and most beautiful military cemeteries in the country. William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy are both buried there, as well as RFK, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Medgar Evers, remains of the astronauts who died in the Challenger disaster, and a long list of other notable Americans. But long before Arlington’s famous Tomb of the Unknown Soldier had a round-the-clock military guard, the estate was home to a much different kind of soldier: Union troops… Read the full story
