Whitney Houston accepts the International Artist of the Year award at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES ENTERTAINMENT)
When Whitney Houston's family and friends remembered the legendary singer at her funeral this past weekend, they spoke more about her strong Christian faith despite hard times than her talent in music.
"I don't care what was going on with her, I don't care what it was, she stayed grounded in the Word," said Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager, who was among several others who remembered the 48-year-old musician for her faith in Christ at the funeral in Newark, N.J., Saturday.
"A friend (identified only as Londale) sent a note reminding us that our dear sister, aunt, mother, friend in Christ has been set free," Patricia Houston said, according to the transcripts of the CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight show on Sunday featuring Houston's funeral. "Free from pain, free from sorrow, free from crying, free from sin, free from death. We will see her again but until then she rests peacefully in the Lord's presence." She went on to say that "the legacy that she left was music but what she left for you was her love for God and she had it and she was absolute, she was absolute about that."
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Houston was laid to rest next to her father at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield on Sunday. Whereas Saturday's memorial service was a star-studded event that was broadcast to the public, the burial was a private ceremony.
Houston, whose career peaked in the 1980s and the 1990s, suffered from drug abuse and her career declined dramatically following years of success and No. 1 hits. She divorced her husband Bobby Brown, with whom she would use drugs, in April 2007. Houston died in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Calif., on Feb. 11. The cause of her death is not known yet as toxicology results are awaited.
Shortly before her death, Houston talked about her desire to see Jesus and said she felt her end was near. A day before her death, she told a friend, "I'm gonna go see Jesus ... I want to see Jesus," according to TMZ.com. And hours before her death, she quoted Matthew 3:13-17 from the Bible describing the baptism of Jesus. "You know, he's so cool. ... I really want to see that Jesus," Houston was quoted as saying by an unidentified source.
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