Funerals and Memorials

Subterms

    More stories

    • 113 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      Thousands Gather in Israel for Funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin

      by

      At a sprawling cemetery in Jerusalem on Monday, thousands of people thronged the parking lot to memorialize Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli American citizen and one of six hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza on Saturday, as family members and friends delivered emotional eulogies and sang Jewish hymns.The funeral, which was attended by President Isaac Herzog of Israel, was a somber reminder of the perilous situation facing the dozens of hostages still thought to be alive in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. It reflected the resonance that Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s plight had with a wide spectrum of Israeli society, drawing secular and religious people who had never met him but found inspiration in his story.The gathering also signified the end of a nearly 11-month journey, in which Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, crisscrossed the globe to lobby for their son’s freedom, meeting with President Biden, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis.Clad in a ripped shirt, a Jewish mourning custom, Ms. Goldberg-Polin said it was a “stunning honor” to be her son’s mother and spoke of the unimaginable distress and torment of worrying about him.Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel Goldberg, spoke alongside his father, Jon Polin, at his funeral in Jerusalem on Monday.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesThe funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin in Jerusalem.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesThousands of people gathered in Jerusalem for Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s funeral.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Crowds for Raisi Show Support for Iranian State, Supreme Leader Says

      by

      Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pointed to the turnout at memorials for Iran’s president at a time when external critics say popular backing for the Islamic Republic has weakened.Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday that the large crowds of mourners who took to the streets of Iranian cities this past week to honor the country’s deceased president, Ebrahim Raisi, were proof of widespread popular support for the Islamic Republic and its system of religious governance.Ayatollah Khamenei had declared five days of mourning after Mr. Raisi, 63, was killed in a helicopter crash along with Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and five others last weekend. Video from the Iranian news media in recent days showed large processions in honor of the dead, and crowds packed in to listen outside the University of Tehran on loudspeakers as Mr. Khamenei led the funeral service for Mr. Raisi on Wednesday.“This mourning has proved to the world that the people are loyal to the president of the republic and to all who embody the principles of the Islamic Revolution,” Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese news channel, quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as saying on Saturday of Mr. Raisi, who had been considered a likely successor as supreme leader.“The majestic funeral that Iran witnessed proved that the people are alive,” the ayatollah added, according to Al Mayadeen, which has long reported closely on Iran and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group.The Iranian state news agency IRNA also reported sentiments to that effect by Mr. Khamenei, although it did not directly quote him. The ayatollah was speaking at a memorial event for Mr. Raisi and the other victims at the Imam Khomeini Hosseinieh, an important religious site in the capital, Tehran, where Mr. Khamenei regularly holds meetings.Funeral observances for Mr. Raisi and the others began on Tuesday with a procession in Tabriz, the closest large city to the crash site in northwestern Iran. Their bodies were then taken to the holy city of Qom and to Tehran before the funeral.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      What Happened to Damages That O.J. Simpson Owed to the Victims’ Families?

      by

      In 1997, a jury in a civil trial awarded the families of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson $33 million. Today, the amount still owed has more than tripled.More than 25 years ago, O.J. Simpson was found liable in civil court for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, her friend, and was ordered to pay more than $33 million to their families.They have yet to recover the damages.While it is still unclear where things stand with the Brown Simpson family, the Goldman family said its pursuit will not end despite the death of Mr. Simpson on Wednesday. David Cook, a lawyer for Fred Goldman, Ronald’s father, said in an interview on Saturday that he could not elaborate on their plans to acquire the money, but that “the judgment will be pursued as before.” In a previous email, Mr. Cook said that Mr. Simpson “died without penance.” Mr. Goldman could not be reached for comment. Mr. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Ms. Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in the 1995 criminal trial, but the civil jury in 1997 concluded that he “willingly and wrongfully” caused their deaths, and the unanimous decision included $25 million in punitive damages.Of the total, according to court documents filed in 2022, the Goldman family had received from Mr. Simpson around $132,000.It was unclear if that figure reflected money from the auctioning of Mr. Simpson’s memorabilia, including his Heisman Trophy, which went toward the damages. Proceeds from the book Mr. Simpson wrote, “If I Did It” — in which he described, in hypothetical terms, how the brutal stabbings of Ms. Brown Simpson and Mr. Goldman might have occurred — also went toward the damages.It was also unknown on Saturday how much of the damages the Brown Simpson family had recovered. Mr. Cook declined to respond to specific questions about the money the Goldman family received. But the total is still a fraction of what is owed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      More Than a Thousand Mourners Pack Church to Honor Student Killed in Georgia

      by

      Laken Riley, whose death became enmeshed in the nation’s bitter debate over immigration, was remembered as a warm and caring woman who “shined so bright.”More than 1,000 mourners braved the rain and blustery chill outside to pack the Woodstock City Church on Friday for the funeral of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student killed last week on the University of Georgia campus, 70 miles away.Laken Riley in a photo from a social media account. Ms. Riley was attacked while out jogging on Feb. 22. She was pursuing a nursing degree at Augusta University, after having been a student at the University of Georgia until May.“When the world loses someone like Laken, whose light consistently shined so bright, it seems that much darker in their absence,” Samer Massad, the lead pastor of the nondenominational church that Ms. Riley and her family attended, said in a statement before the funeral on Friday afternoon. He continued: “Laken was special. She was a gift to anyone who knew her.”Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, a migrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally in September 2022, was charged with her murder in a case that was immediately thrust into the bitter national debate over immigration. He was staying in an apartment complex less than a mile from the University of Georgia’s intramural fields where Ms. Riley’s body was found near a wooded running path..Instead of flowers, Ms. Riley’s family requested donations that would be used to cover funeral expenses, establish a scholarship in her name and create a foundation to focus on women’s safety and homicide awareness. Red, rubber bracelets reading “Laken Hope Riley Foundation” were handed out to those in attendance at the funeral service.Nearly $180,000 had been raised by Friday afternoon. More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Weary but Determined, Ukrainians Vow Never to Bow to Russia

      by

      When Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv a couple of weeks ago, schoolchildren and their teachers installed in newly built underground classrooms did not hear a thing.Down in the bowels of Kharkiv’s cavernous, Soviet-era subway stations, the city administration has built a line of brightly decorated classrooms, where 6- and 7-year-olds are attending primary school for the first time in their lives in this war-stricken city.“The children were fine,” said Lyudmyla Demchenko, 47, one of the teachers. “You cannot hear the sirens down here.”Ten years after the conflict with Russian-backed separatists broke out and two years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainians are weary but ever determined to repel the invaders. The war has touched every family — with thousands of civilians dead, close to 200,000 soldiers killed and wounded, and nearly 10 million refugees and displaced in a country of nearly 45 million people. Yet, despite the death, destruction and deprivations, a majority of Ukrainians remain optimistic about the future, and even describe themselves as happy, according to independent polls.Kharkiv is a good example. It lies only 25 miles from the border with Russia and has suffered a heavy share of Russian artillery, drone and missile attacks. Most families fled at the beginning of the war or lived for months underground in the subway, as Russian troops came close to seizing the city. But the Ukrainian defenses held, families returned and the city came back to life.In Kharkiv, 6- and 7-year-old children are attending primary school for the first time in their lives in classrooms built in Soviet-era subway stations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      NY Archdiocese Condemns Funeral of Cecilia Gentili, a Transgender Activist

      by

      In a statement, the pastor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan said the church was not aware of Ms. Gentili’s background, or her avowed atheism, when it agreed to host the Thursday service.The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of a transgender community leader that was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday, calling the event an insult to the Catholic faith and saying it was unaware of the identity of the deceased — or her vocal atheism — when it agreed to host the service.The funeral, which drew well over 1,000 people, celebrated the life of Cecilia Gentili, an activist and actress well known for her advocacy on behalf of sex workers, transgender people and people living with H.I.V. She was also a self-professed atheist, a topic around which she built a one-woman Off Broadway show.The service on Thursday was an event that most likely had no precedent in Catholic history. The pews were packed with mourners, many of them transgender, who wore daring high-fashion outfits and cheered as eulogists led them in praying for transgender rights and access to gender-affirming health care.Catholic liberals, including some parishioners at St. Patrick’s, said the church had done a good thing by hosting the funeral of a transgender person. Some conservative Catholics vehemently disagreed.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesOne eulogy, a video clip of which was widely shared online Friday, remembered Ms. Gentili as “Saint Cecilia, the mother of all whores,” to the thunderous cheers of a nearly full cathedral.Catholic liberals, including some parishioners at St. Patrick’s, said that regardless of how some mourners behaved, the church had done a good thing by hosting the funeral of a transgender person. But the response from conservatives was fiery.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Corpse and 30 Cremated Remains Found at Ex-Funeral Director’s Denver Home

      by

      The police said they had issued an arrest warrant for Miles Harford, who had been the funeral director of a Littleton, Colo., funeral home.The corpse of a woman and the cremated remains of at least 30 other people were found at the home of a former funeral director in Colorado, prompting the Denver Police Department to issue an arrest warrant for the man on Friday.The former funeral director, Miles Harford, 33, will most likely face charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery of a public document, and theft, Beth McCann, the Denver district attorney, said during a news conference on Friday.The Denver police said they had contacted the family of the woman, who was 63 when she died in August 2022.“They’re devastated, they’re shocked, they were hurt by this,” Cmdr. Matt Clark, who oversees the Police Department’s major crimes division, said at the news conference.The cremated remains were discovered on Feb. 6 by the owners of the home where Mr. Harford had been a tenant. The owners were cleaning out the house after serving Mr. Harford with an eviction notice when they found boxes of cremated remains. They reported the discovery to deputies from the Denver Sheriff Department who were there for the eviction.Investigators with the Police Department and the medical examiner’s office then found the woman’s body, which had been covered with a blanket in an inoperable hearse in the backyard. Officials said the woman had most likely been there since her death.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 175 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a Funeral Was Held for Cecilia Gentili, a Transgender Activist

      by

      St. Patrick’s Cathedral was the site of protests over the church’s position on homosexuality and AIDS. On Thursday, it hosted a jubilant funeral for Cecilia Gentili, a former sex worker and actress.The pews of St. Patrick’s Cathedral were packed on Thursday for an event with no likely precedent in Catholic history: the funeral of Cecilia Gentili, a transgender activist and actress, former sex worker and self-professed atheist whose memorial functioned as both a celebration of her life and an exuberant piece of political theater.Over 1,000 mourners, several hundred of whom were transgender, arrived in daring outfits — glittery miniskirts and halter tops, fishnet stockings, sumptuous fur stoles and at least one boa sewed from $100 bills. Mass cards and a picture near the altar showed a haloed Ms. Gentili surrounded by the Spanish words for “transvestite,” “whore,” “blessed” and “mother” above the text of Psalm 25.That St. Patrick’s Cathedral would host the funeral for a high-profile transgender activist, who was well known for her advocacy on behalf of sex workers, transgender people and people living with H.I.V., might come as a surprise to some.Not much more than a generation ago, at the heights of the AIDS crisis, the cathedral was a flashpoint in conflicts between gay activists and the Catholic Church, whose opposition to homosexuality and condom use enraged the community. The towering neo-Gothic building became the site of headline-grabbing protests in which activists chained themselves to the pews and lay down in the aisles.On Thursday, St. Patrick’s Cathedral was filled those mourning Ms. Gentili. Decades ago, L.G.B.T.Q. activists chained themselves to the pews to protest the church.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesThe church has softened its tone on those issues in recent years, and New York’s current cardinal, Timothy Dolan, has said the church should be more welcoming of gay people. Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, did not respond to questions about whether the church had been aware of Ms. Gentili’s background when it agreed to host her funeral.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More