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Timothy Gilbert, 15, signs a tribute poster outside Greater Grace Temple.Crowds honor her at church, cemetery
'I'm going to hold onto this all my life,' says Detroit woman as she clutched Parks' obituary and a rose.
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DETROIT -- Crowds chanting "Rosa! Rosa!" packed the sidewalks and the entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery on Wednesday night as the body of civil rights icon Rosa Parks made its way to its final resting place.
Some sat on concrete fence posts, holding candles, while one man waved a South African flag after the more than seven-hour funeral service at the Greater Grace Temple.
Sidewalks were crowded on both sides of Woodward for close to a mile, while six buses, decorated with wreaths and bearing the inscription "In honorable memory of Rosa Parks" and carrying friends, relatives and dignitaries, wended their way the almost nine miles from the church to Woodlawn.
Even after Parks' body was interred in the mausoleum at Woodlawn, hundreds of mourners lined the fences, peering into the cemetery grounds.
Members of the Parks family and friends took red carnations and red roses from the funeral bouquets and handed them to many of the spectators, many of whom seemed reluctant to say a final farewell to Parks.
"I'm going to hold onto this all my life," said Egloris Turner, of Detroit as she clutched a printed obituary of Parks and a red rose.
Another mourner, Vince Johnson, 44, a maintenance worker of Oak Park, looked at a person nearby who was holding a funeral program, and said, "That's a treasure, that's a treasure."
The streets outside the church, and along the path to the cemetery, became the gathering places for the thousands of mourners who couldn't make it into the temple.
Some had waited on the streets for hours to get a glimpse of the procession.
But they remained patient and undaunted by the long funeral service.
"With all Rosa Parks has done, I don't think it's too long," said Roy Young, 49, of Detroit, as darkness fell Wednesday. "She meant too much to too many people. Rosa Parks was an inspiration."
He stood on Seven Mile near Glastonbury surrounded by others who crowded the sidewalks on all sides of the intersection.
Many applauded as the hearse, to which Parks' casket was moved after departing the church in a carriage, drove down Seven Mile on the way to the cemetery, a show of respect for Parks.
The thousands who gathered along the procession route were the latest sign of how moved many were. Twenty-four hours earlier, some arrived outside the Greater Grace Temple on Tuesday evening to get a seat at the church. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, nearly 1,000 people waited in line outside the church.
"I was too young when she first started. It is a blessing to be here at the end of an era. This is like an obligation. I hope this opens up new doors and opportunities, not only for blacks but for all races," said Ruby Davis of Southfield, who had arrived at the church at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Ruby Patterson boarded a shuttle bus at 5:45 a.m. and hoped she wasn't too late to enter the church. The line, which eventually snaked about a half-mile to Telegraph, began forming almost 12 hours before.
Clad in a mink shawl, sequin top and rhinestone angel broach, Patterson remembers seeing Parks board buses in Detroit after she left Montgomery because of death threats.
A mix of excitement and worry about oversleeping kept Patterson up much of the night. She awoke at 4:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. service.
"I've just come to honor her and the person she was," said Patterson, who lives on Detroit's west side. "We as a people wouldn't be where we are if not for her. I've been a part of the struggle all my life, and it still is a struggle."
At the front of the line, they passed time with skits, songs, hot chocolate and memories. Friendships were formed. They may last a day, but the bond was real, several said.
"We are the common folks. We're not the VIPs," said Claudette Bond, 62, of Southfield
Her daughter, Melinda Bond-Shreve, 34, added that Parks' "significance of opening the doors for the masses" caused the outpouring.
Some had chairs. Many never slept. There was too much excitement, said Jose Garcia, 57, of Ann Arbor, who arrived at the church shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday.
"Time went by zippity-quick," he said. "It hardly seems like we've been here for 12 hours." The motorcade carrying Parks' body arrived at the church at 7:12 a.m. It lingered for 34 minutes, as funeral workers carried teeming floral arrangements into the church and a phalanx of 10 Detroit police dressed in white helmets formed outside the Greater Grace's side door.
A flurry of cameras -- from the media and onlookers -- snapped as nine members of an Army funeral guard carried Parks' mahogany casket into the church. When it left, Trish Sardella angled a portable camera into the back of the vintage 1930s hearse that transported Parks.
"It's been such a warm experience, a quiet experience," said the Waterford, Ontario, woman, her hands circling her heart.
"It's an inner feeling. It's exciting to be a part of all this, to share. I'm quite pleased and grateful for her sacrifice and to be able to share.
The doors were opened to the public about 9 a.m. Inside the expansive church, the mood was restrained, but joyous.
Crowds dressed mostly in black exchanged hugs. Children had photos snapped by portraits of Parks surrounded by flowers.
You can reach Darren Nichols at (734) 462-2190 or dnichols@detnews.com.
Students from the Nataki Talivah school of Detroit, some of the hundreds of people who couldn't get into the service, show their support for Parks.
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