Funeral

Lamar Odom's voice on the phone frequently was barely above a whisper. The pain clearly registered in words that flowed in stops and starts as he delivered a soliloquy about death and the effect it has had on his psyche. The Lakers forward spoke deliberately and expressed how emotional it has been for him to deal with two recent deaths. Odom attended a funeral in New York on July 13 for his 24-year-old cousin, who Odom said was murdered. The next day, Odom was a passenger in an SUV in Queens when it collided with a motorcycle.

Dear Mom: It's always been impossible to buy you a gift for Mother's Day or any other occasion, because there's so little you ever wanted or needed, and how many flannel nightgowns can any woman use? There must be half a dozen stores within 10 miles of your house where you set records for returning gifts from family members. And so we switched to flowers, which even the Queen of Returns can't give back. I hope they've arrived by now. But here's a little something extra.

Known for her flamboyant hats and dazzling jewelry, Bernice Woods relished being in the public eye. So when the longtime community volunteer and former Compton city councilwoman died last month, her children opted to place her open casket in the drive-thru display window of Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton. "My mother was a community person," said Gregory W. Woods, 55, the youngest of the deceased woman's 10 children. "She meant so much to so many people. It is only fitting and proper that she would be viewed this way. " Adams funeral parlor, a fixture in Compton since 1974, brings to the business of death a convenience of the living: drive-thru viewing of the dead.

Hundreds of family members, friends and supporters attended a funeral service Saturday for Kendrec "Mac" McDade, a 19-year-old college student who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by two Pasadena police officers. About 400 people trickled inside the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena to pay tribute to the Citrus College student, whose family has filed wrongful death and civil rights complaints against the city. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Assn.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston 's funeral - (goes after 3rd graf)   FULL COVERAGE: Whitney Houston's death - (goes after 6th graf)   ALSO: Houston funeral: Who's performing and speaking? Outside Whitney Houston's funeral: 'We're hurting too' Whitney Houston's mother says, 'Rest, my baby girl, in peace'

Whitney Houston 's funeral, described as a "home going celebration," is unfolding in her childhood church with gospel tributes and eulogies from celebrities, including Kevin Costner , who described her as “beautiful as a woman could be.” Gospel singer BeBe Winans said he would miss "crazy Whitney. " And Alicia Keys sang “Send Me An Angel” after telling how her friend Whitney made her and other artists feel “strong and capable and loved.” The private funeral, broadcast live online from New Hope Baptist Church, brought out thousands of family members, friends and fans to the church on what started as a gray, drizzly day. PHOTOS: Whitney Houston's funeral Amid the tears and mournful remarks from Newark Mayor Corey Booker and filmmaker Tyler Perry , there were moments of comedy.

Angel Luis Pantojas was 6 when he saw his slain father's body in a casket and declared: Not me. At my wake, people will see me on my feet. So when he was shot 11 times, twice in the face, and tossed over a bridge in his underwear 18 years later, Pantojas got his wish. Pantojas' family tethered his corpse to the wall, where streams of strangers came from throughout Puerto Rico to see the latest curiosity they dubbed el muerto parao — dead man standing. "You couldn't fit another soul in this room," his aunt Ana Delia Pantojas recalled, showing the holes in the housing project living room wall where the corpse was bound two summers ago. "All sorts of people came here to see him — lawyers, judges.

A funeral service for Medal of Honor recipient John Finn, who died Thursday in Chula Vista at age 100, is set for 10 a.m. Thursday at El Cajon-Lakeside-Santee Mortuary and Cremation Service, 684 S. Mollison Ave. in El Cajon. A viewing is scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the same location. Burial will be in the Campo Indian Reservation cemetery.

Stan Stearns, 76, who took the iconic photograph of John F. KennedyJr. saluting his father's coffin during the slain president's 1963 funeral, died Friday of cancer at a hospice in Harwood, Md., said his son Jay. As a photographer for United Press International, Stearns was assigned to cover John F. Kennedy's funeral on Nov. 25, 1963. He was standing outside a Washington cathedral with about 70 photographers when he saw Jacqueline Kennedy lean down to whisper to her son, who turned 3 that day. The boy then stepped forward as the flag-draped coffin rolled by. "His hand went up, it went down; one exposure, that's all I got," Stearns told the Baltimore Sun in 1999.

A funeral for entertainment lawyer Peter Lopez will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, his family announced. Lopez, 60, was found dead Friday of a gunshot wound outside his home in Encino. Coroner's officials have confirmed the death as a suicide. Lopez was a founding partner of Kleinberg Lopez Lange Cuddy and Klein, and over the years represented artists including Michael Jackson , the Eagles and Julio Iglesias . He had bachelor's and law degrees from UCLA and was a member of the California State Athletic Commission.

The three surviving Monkees aren't planning to attend Davy Jones' funeral because it would likely bring too much unwanted attention to his family during their time of grief, the group's Micky Dolenz said Tuesday. He and fellow Monkees Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith have talked of attending one of the memorials that Jones' family is planning to hold in New York and in the late singer's native England, Dolenz said. And he added he's considering organizing a memorial himself for Jones' friends in Los Angeles.

As hundreds of mourners gathered at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Saturday, Joanna Ramos' grieving mother fought back tears and said she would always remember her 10-year-old daughter as a "good and happy little girl who dreamed of being a singer and a star. " "What happened to Joanna could happen to anybody," Cecilia Villanueva, 41, said before the service. "Parents need to be careful and try to watch over their children, even when they are at school with friends. " Relatives, friends and strangers assembled at the cemetery's chapel for a funeral service to honor the fifth-grader, who died after a fight with a classmate near their elementary school in Long Beach.

Stan Stearns, 76, who took the iconic photograph of John F. KennedyJr. saluting his father's coffin during the slain president's 1963 funeral, died Friday of cancer at a hospice in Harwood, Md., said his son Jay. As a photographer for United Press International, Stearns was assigned to cover John F. Kennedy's funeral on Nov. 25, 1963. He was standing outside a Washington cathedral with about 70 photographers when he saw Jacqueline Kennedy lean down to whisper to her son, who turned 3 that day. The boy then stepped forward as the flag-draped coffin rolled by. "His hand went up, it went down; one exposure, that's all I got," Stearns told the Baltimore Sun in 1999.

The National Enquirer's photo of the late Whitney Houston in her casket was unauthorized and had nothing to do with the funeral home where the singer's body was prepared, the funeral home's owner told The Times on Thursday. Outrage has followed the publication of the photo in the latest issue of the Enquirer, as have questions about how it was obtained. That has cast suspicion on Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., but owner Carolyn Whigham insisted that the funeral home did not play a role.

Thousands of mourners braved a snowstorm and heavy security presence to march Saturday through a strategic Damascus neighborhood, turning a funeral procession into a bold opposition statement in a Syrian capital that has remained largely loyal to President Bashar Assad. The march, in the upscale Mezzeh district, started out peacefully but turned violent, opposition activists said, as security men unleashed barrages of live rounds. At least one person was reported killed and several injured, though there was no official confirmation.

The principal of the elementary school that Whitney Houston attended in East Orange, N.J. -- the school that was renamed in her honor in 1997 -- was among those invited to the private funeral at New Hope Baptist Church. As Henry W. Hamilton arrived he showed the formal invitation that would grant him access to the church, where celebrities, family and friends of Houston were gathering for what is being called a “home-going ceremony.” The invitation features a close-up picture of Houston smiling and in a glamorous off-the-shoulder dress against a violet background.

Whitney Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, wrote a touching letter in her daughter's funeral program thanking God for her “beautiful flower” and saying that she had a sense that Whitney would not “be with me long.” “I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long,” Cissy Houston wrote, according the Associated Press.  “And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise...

Three hours before Whitney Houston's funeral was to begin Saturday, about three dozen fans gathered at a corner four blocks up the street from the New Hope Baptist Church, the closest police permitted them to be. Catherine Graham Ross peered through a pair of opera glasses toward the church at the flashing lights of police cars, past metal barricades and yellow police ropes, and said she understood the need to keep people back. "They're hurting and they need their time," she said, referring to Houston's family.

Whitney Houston 's funeral, described as a "home going celebration," is unfolding in her childhood church with gospel tributes and eulogies from celebrities, including Kevin Costner , who described her as “beautiful as a woman could be.” Gospel singer BeBe Winans said he would miss "crazy Whitney. " And Alicia Keys sang “Send Me An Angel” after telling how her friend Whitney made her and other artists feel “strong and capable and loved.” The private funeral, broadcast live online from New Hope Baptist Church, brought out thousands of family members, friends and fans to the church on what started as a gray, drizzly day. PHOTOS: Whitney Houston's funeral Amid the tears and mournful remarks from Newark Mayor Corey Booker and filmmaker Tyler Perry , there were moments of comedy.