NEW ORLEANS — There was a large congregation of family, friends and dignitaries who were joined by many people Friday who just felt like after all the years on the air, Nancy Parker was a family member.
They paused Friday to say goodbye to the WVUE anchorwoman and TV news icon. There were three hours of moving tributes this morning at Xavier University, as well as emotional songs from famous musicians and her husband, Glynn Boyd.
Boyd sang a touching Lionel Richie tribute to his wife this morning as mourners dried tears from their eyes.
He took off his wedding band just long enough to read the inscription Nancy had written in it years ago on their wedding day. He said it was two simple words "My Angel" and he remembered what he called the best day of his life.
"But the first time I cried and I saw her for the first time in her wedding dress, and I just lost it," said Boyd, who sang "You're once, twice, three times a lady," to her picture.
Tears flowed, and people heard from familiar voices such as Irma Thomas, who sang 'How Great Thou Art.'
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Parker died on Friday, Aug. 16 in a plane crash south of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport. She was creating a feature story on pilot/activist Franklin Augustus, who also died in the crash.
The mayor talked about the moment she heard of the tragic untimely loss of Nancy.
"As I shouted, 'Oh no!' said Mayor Latoya Cantrell. "As I moved about the city of New Orleans, that same feeling and that same loss and that same shock seemed to be embedded in every citizen in this city."
There was a surprise visit by P.J. Morton of the band Maroon 5, who sang "Let go and let God. We don't understand it but just let go and let God."
The love from our city was overwhelming, even from people Nancy never met.
"I felt like she was a part of my family and what she represent as a beautiful woman, a mother," said Jacquelin Marshall.
And people she met just once, like a man who rescued Nancy when she was covering the big oil spill and her boat was taking on water.
"And we became friends ever since and I keep this picture hanging on my refrigerator," said Michael Guillory. He remembers the time Nancy saw him as a waiter and yelled out, '" Hey Michael. This is the guy that saved my life. This is the guy that saved my life.' Wish I could have been there for her this time."
Another man who met Nancy at a fundraiser, wore the same bright print jacket he met her in.
"And Nancy say, 'David, wow, I love that jacket, so I wore it today in respect for her and her kindness," said David Batiste, Sr.
Inside, one of her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters reminded the hundreds of mourners to live like Nancy, because life is short.
"You ought to wear a smile more and remember that this little dash might only last a little while so smile, so when your day comes," said Cynthia Butler-McIntyre, the 24th National President of Delta Sigma Theta.
After the ceremony, there was a procession with a traditional brass band dirge, marching to 'Just a Closer Walk with Thee' followed by a hearse, and then a horse-drawn hearse.
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