In a service already filled with music, praise and memories, hundreds of people are saying their final farewell to Evelyn Lowery at her elaborate funeral services on the campus of Morehouse College.
The wife of civil rights leader Joseph E. Lowery, she is being remembered today as a leader in her own right.
“She was a soldier in the army, too. She fought the good fight too,” said Morehouse College President John S. Wilson, Jr. “We say, job well done.”
Early in the service, the celebratory theme of Lowery’s service is prominent. Songs and the prayers of several local ministers have emotionally stirred the mourners who are responding with loud shouts of glory and amen.
Earlier, hundreds of people filed into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel as early as 9 a.m. to pay their final respects Lowery, who died Sept. 26.
“She was his strength,” said Calvin Smyre, a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Columbus. “When you have two people on the same mission, more than likely, the goal will be success.
Bishop Woodie W. White, of Emory University and the chairman of the Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights, will deliver the eulogy. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and activist Al Sharpton are also scheduled to speak.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is listed on the program, but it is still unclear as to whether he will be in attendance. Joshua DuBois, the former executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is expected to deliver a video message on behalf of President Obama.
“If ever there was a strong co-leader, it was Mrs. Lowery,” The Rev. Jesse Jackson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “She faced danger as other freedom fighters did. She marched as other freedom fighters did. She faced death as other freedom fighters did. She was a long-distance runner and a thinker. She has been a woman of grace.”
Before the funeral started, hundreds of mourners drifted past her casket for the viewing. She was adorned in a golden, ankle-length dress. Dozens of flower arrangements surrounded her, including a large bouquet from her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The Cascade United Methodist Church Mass Choir and the Central United Methodist Church Mass Choir, more than 100 members dressed in black, sat quietly onstage, awaiting the beginning of the program, which is being presided over by Cascade senior pastor Marvin A. Moss and Yvette Massey, senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church.
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