Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, has died at the age of 74.
The three-time world heavyweight champion – died on 4th June 2016 at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona after suffering for many years of Parkinson’s disease complicated by a respiratory illness.
His funeral plans began many years ago and were documented in exacting detail in ‘The Book’, 2 inches thick and in great detail, signed and updated a week before his death.
Ali’s body has been repatriated to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, the funeral plans begin with a 30-minute public Islamic service on Thursday held at Freedom Hall where Ali once fought.
His public interfaith funeral will take place at the KFC Yum Center, a sports arena where the 15,000 seats are likely to be filled! A eulogy at the funeral will be delivered by Former President Bill Clinton. Followed by the celebration of his life featuring a 19 mile-long procession that will carry Ali’s body across his beloved hometown. It will drive past the museum built in his honour, along the boulevard named after him and through the neighborhood where he grew up.
Ali’s private burial will be in Cave Hill Cemetery, the final resting place for many of the city’s most prominent residents. The luminaries include Colonel Harlan Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, whose granite memorial features a bust of the goateed entrepreneur.
Ali’s gravesite will far more subdued, in contrast to his oversized personality and life. A modest marker, in accord with Muslim tradition, is planned.
“Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it,” Quote: President Barack Obama
