Hundreds Pay Respects at Abernathy’s Church
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ATLANTA — Hundreds of mourners filed past the coffin of the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy after a somber Sunday service at the church where he preached the gospel during the turbulent civil rights era.
About 300 people lined up after the regular service at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church, where the civil rights leader was pastor from 1961 until his death last week at age 64.
At an evening memorial service, civil rights figures praised the man who worked beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s.
Family members viewed Abernathy’s body privately, then left the church. One of Abernathy’s daughters, Donzaleigh Abernathy Bosley, arranged flowers around her father’s open coffin and placed a single red rose in his left hand.
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