Atlantic City To Host Memorial Service for Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver on Aug. 31
By Clyde Hughes | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY — Ward 3 Councilman Kaleem Shabazz announced on Friday that there will be a memorial service for the trailblazing late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 5:30 p.m. at Second Baptist Church, 110 Rev. Issac Cole Plaza.
Rev. Collins Days is the pastor of Second Baptist Church. Doors open at 5 p.m. The public is invited.
Oliver was influential in the activities of Atlantic City as the director of the state’s Department of Community Affairs. She was the first one of only a handful of Black lieutenant governors in the state and the first to serve New Jersey. She was also the first Black woman to serve as New Jersey’s Speaker of the Assembly.
Mayor Marty Small and Shabazz spoke highly of Oliver in her passing.
“Lieutenant Governor Oliver and I were beyond colleagues. We were close friends,” said Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small in his statement. “We often joked about her living in Atlantic City when she retires because she was here so frequently. This is a tremendous loss for our city, our region and our state. She was a strong advocate and a champion for Atlantic City.
“She supported all the positive things my administration wanted to do for our residents, and I’ll be forever grateful for that. We owe the existence of our current departments of Youth, Multicultural and Senior Services to Lieutenant Governor Oliver. On top of all that, she was a wonderful person; always a pleasure to be around. On behalf of the entire City of Atlantic City, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to her family and to her colleagues. Our hearts are with you during this difficult time.”
Shabazz, the immediate past president of the Atlantic City NAACP, said Oliver always focused on people and was a staunch advocate for urban development, social justice and civil rights.
“Lt. Governor Oliver was a champion of Atlantic City,” Shabazz said. “I was privileged to call her a friend and a colleague in public service. Sheila Oliver made a difference in Atlantic City, in New Jersey and the lives of countless numbers of people she touched. I will miss Sheila Oliver and will always cherish her memory.”
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