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The body of the late New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who died at age 71 last week, arrived Thursday at about 9:35 a.m. at the Statehouse in Trenton. She will lie in state inside the capitol’s rotunda until 6 p.m.

Her casket was draped in an American flag and ferried in a gold hearse with the state seal on the front doors, surrounded by State Trooper vehicles with flashing lights.

A line of State Troopers carried the casket into a side door of the Statehouse while bagpipes played. Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy stood at the door.

The casket was placed in the middle of the rotunda, with a large painting and photo of Oliver on either side. There was a private viewing ceremony in which hundreds of state officials, state lawmakers, members of Congress, and local officials waited in line to pay their respects at the foot of the casket one by one. The Murphys greeted the visitors as they entered the rotunda. Oliver’s family was seated to the side.

Members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus each carried a rose to place by the casket.

State Assemblyman Reginald Atkins delivered a prayer, calling Oliver a “wonderful woman.”
“She lived a dream,” Atkins said. “This is such a tragedy, but it is also a triumph.”

“God bless Sheila,” Murphy said.

A line of hundreds of people waited to get in to pay their respects.

Brent Johnson, NJ.com

PHOTO

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/g6b6cn0obeibzgyt0pkx9/h?dl=0&rlkey=uquhgqpjynmugnibzr83cl3vy

Video

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/4gm98vl247gh0vylp7fr8/h?dl=0&rlkey=7t41q3hu2ksmpu9ioyy8jnblz