What to Know
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a host of lawmakers, and numerous gathered Saturday in the packed Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark mourn the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.
- The U.S. flag-draped casket lay in state Thursday, just over a week since Oliver died after a hospital stay for an undisclosed medical issue.
- She was the first Black woman elected to statewide office in New Jersey history, as well as the first Black woman to be Assembly speaker. She was 71.
New Jersey said goodbye to Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who died after a short hospitalization, with a three-day state funeral.
The event wrapped up with a public memorial on Saturday.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and a host of New Jersey officials addressed mourners Saturday in the packed Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Mourners included Oliver's 95-year-old mother and other family members as well as five current and former governors of the state.
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Sharpton told mourners that Oliver, also the first Black woman to lead the state Assembly, “never forgot why she was in the room.”
“She never backed down, she never sold out, she never turned her back on the people that made her. She was and is ours and always will be,” he said, drawing thunderous applause and bringing many in the crowd to their feet.
Gov. Phil Murphy praised Oliver, 71, who died Aug. 1 following a hospital stay for an undisclosed medical issue, as a “first-rate fighter for every New Jerseyan.”
Politics
“No matter the office, Sheila won whatever victory she could for the forgotten families of our state. And as a changemaker, she was always ahead of the curve,” said Murphy, a Democrat. He thanked Cardinal Joseph Tobin “for sharing this holy ground with us as Sheila lifts up and takes flight as New Jersey’s newest guardian angel.”
On Thursday, Murphy, a host of lawmakers, and numerous mourners poured into the statehouse rotunda to mourn the late Oliver, whose U.S. flag-draped casket lay in state just over a week since she died.
“God Bless Sheila,” Murphy, a Democrat, said after a New Jersey State Police honor guard placed her remains near the state seal in the rotunda.
A stream of legislators, former staffers and members of the public paid their respects to 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.
Donna Jackson, 60, from Trenton, carried an umbrella into the statehouse as she prepared pay her respects. Jackson said she met Oliver once at a rally years ago and said she “loved” her. She echoed many of the eulogies about Oliver that cast her as a trailblazer.
“It's empowering that a Black woman accomplished this much,” Jackson said.
Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy attended a private visitation with Oliver before the rotunda opened to the public.
Funeral and celebration of life for Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver
Murphy said in a statement last week that Oliver's remains would lie in state in the Capitol rotunda Thursday, Aug. 10, followed by a similar honor in her home county's historic courthouse on Aug. 11. A funeral ceremony was held Saturday in Newark's Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Here are details about the three-day "Celebration of Life" in Oliver's honor.
On the morning of Friday, Aug.11, 2023, Oliver was escorted to the Essex County Historic Court House by the Honor Guard where members of the public paid their respects to her as she lies in state. She was accompanied by a rotating Honor Guard from the Essex County Sheriff's Office.
On the morning of Saturday, Aug. 12, Oliver was accompanied to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, where a memorial service open to the public took place. Al Sharpton and the governor eulogized her.
Following the service, her casket was escorted by the Honor Guard of the New Jersey State Police to her final resting place and interred in a private ceremony.
“As we come together in shared mourning over the loss of our family member and friend Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, we will remember the legacy she leaves behind as a changemaker and trailblazer,” Murphy said. “Together, we will honor and celebrate her remarkable contributions to the state she loved, recognizing the profound impact she had on the millions of people who call New Jersey home.”
A trailblazing politician
Oliver died Aug. 1, just a day after the governor's office said she was admitted to a hospital with an undisclosed medical issue. No cause was given for her death in a statement from the governor’s office on behalf of Oliver’s family, which asked for privacy.
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.
Speaking from his office last week, Murphy remembered her as an advocate for affordable housing and for urban communities across the state, including Atlantic City, where she was the de facto final decision maker for some of the city's most consequential decisions. A law passed under Republican Gov. Chris Christie gave control over much of the city's major decisions to the state.
As acting governor she signed a bill in 2021 that established a pilot program to overhaul the state’s juvenile justice system in four cities and which aimed to reintegrate young people into their communities. Another measure she signed in 2021 revived a defunct fund for “urban enterprise zones” aimed driving economic development in cities through lower sales tax rates.
The state constitution requires Murphy to name a successor within 45 days of the vacancy. He so far has not nominated anyone.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari will serve as acting governor if Murphy leaves the state or is incapacitated in the interim.
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