Civil rights hero Joseph Lowery, 98, who marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr and gave benediction at President Obama’s inauguration is laid to rest at private funeral in Atlanta
- Joseph Lowery, 98, died on March 27 in Atlanta from natural causes
- He worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for civil rights
- His funeral was held on April 4 on the 52nd anniversary of King’s assassination in Memphis
- Lowery delivered the benediction at President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009
- In 2009, Obama presented Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor
- A public memorial service has been planned for Lowery on October 6, which would have been his 99th birthday
Family of the Rev. Joseph Lowery gathered Saturday for a small, private funeral for the civil rights veteran who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and decades later delivered a prayer before 1.8 million at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
A horse-drawn caisson attended by men in black suits and top hats carried Lowery’s casket to Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, where about 10 family members attended a graveside service.
The procession first made stops at two churches where Lowery had served as pastor, as well as the nonprofit Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice and Human rights that he founded in 2001.
On Saturday, pallbearers carry the casket of Rev. Joseph E. Lowery to the graveside at the Westview cemetery in Atlanta
Civil rights activist Joseph Lowery poses for a photo at the funeral for the Rev. C.K. Steele, Sr. in Tallahassee, Florida
Martin Luther King Jr speaks to journalists at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church with Bayard Rustin (center left) and Joseph Lowery (center, behind King)
President Barack Obama awards Rev. Joseph E. Lowery with the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom in the East Room of the the White House in Washington
Lowery, 98, died March 27 in Atlanta from what his family said were natural causes, and not related to the coronavirus pandemic.
He was best known for helping King start the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization that Lowery went on to lead for two decades.
Lowery’s funeral fell on the 52nd anniversary of King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
Cheryl Lowery, daughter of civil rights icon Rev. Joseph Lowery, said that 10 family members would be in attendance for his Saturday funeral service
A funeral procession heads into the Westview cemetery in Atlanta to honor the life of Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a civil rights icon who died of natural causes on March 27
On Saturday, horses pull the casket of Joseph Lowery to the graveside at the Westview cemetery in Atlanta
Lowery gave the benediction at Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. Later that year, Obama awarded Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation´s highest civilian honor.
A public memorial service is planned for Oct. 6, which would have been Lowery’s 99th birthday.
Lowery´s daughter, Cheryl Lowery, had previously said 10 family members would attend the funeral Saturday. Specific details of the service were not made public.
Men handle a bouquet of roses at the Westview cemetery in Atlanta meant to honor the life Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, who died of natural causes last week
A horse-drawn cassion pulls the casket of Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a fiery civil rights icon who worked along side Martin Luther King, Jr.