Myles Memorialized In Grand Style
Submitted by N.O.V.A. July 2005
Times Picayune	10-20-1998


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Within sight of the tomb of the world-renowned Mahalia Jackson, fellow gospel singer
Raymond Anthony Myles Sr. was laid to rest Monday following what is believed to be one
of the biggest funerals New Orleans has ever seen.

More than 4,000 mourners, including schoolchildren and elected officials, packed
Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church to give a fitting sendoff to Myles,
known for his exuberant stage performances and larger-than-life personality.

"We're going to struggle to work to keep your spirit alive," Mayor Marc Morial said
during the service.

Myles, 40, whose talent as a gospel singer won him a Grammy nomination and took him
around he world, died of a gunshot wound to the heart Oct. 11. He was found at the
corner of Chartres Street and Elysian Fields Avenue.

Police think his killer pushed him out of his Lincoln Navigator at the Faubourg Marigny
intersection, then abandoned the vehicle about two miles away at Bruxelles and Industry
streets.

Myles' death has been marked by an outpouring of grief. More than 7,000 people passed
by his coffin Sunday in a memorial service at Municipal Auditorium. For the Sunday
memorial, Myles was dressed in a snakeskin suit and matching boots. On Monday, he was
dressed in white, his casket surrounded by flowers sent by public officials,
restaurants and his alma mater, John McDonogh High School.

"He was known for grand entrances and known for grand exits," Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr.
of Greater St. Stephen eulogized before bringing mourners to their feet as he sang "I
Believe I Can Fly."

The church is on Read Boulevard next to Marion Abramson High School, where Myles taught
music.

Outside the church, mourners jammed the neutral gound as more than a dozen limousines
waited to take relatives, friends, and church and community leaders to the burial at
Providence Memorial Park, on Airline Drive in Metairie.

"This is the biggest funeral I've ever seen, said Irma McCrory, whose daughter is a
member of the Raymond Anthony Myles Singers, known as the RAMS.

According to an obituary printed in a remembrance distributed at the church, the Big
Easy Award presented to Myles in 1993 was his proudest accomplishment. And although he
traveled around the globe, his first love was performing for his hometown folk.

He was a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since 1974, when he
filled in at a moment's notice for a no-show performer.

In a brief ceremony at the cemetery, Morton led mourners in the Lord's Prayer.

Myles' tomb is inscribed with his nickname, "The Maestro." He is buried steps away from
Jackson, whose tomb bears the inscription "the world's greatest gospel singer."