Death and Funeral
Churumba died on January 17, 2004 at 9:00 AM AST in the Medical Center of Río Piedras at the age of 61 after slipping into a coma and suffering a brain hemorrhage. His posthumous wish of donating his organs was fulfilled.
The funeral guard was held on January 18 in the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium with a rotatory guard of politicians, public servicemen and the various sport teams of Ponce. Many visitors cheered “Long live Churumba!” and “We love you!” The electronic board of the auditorium displayed the words “The Greatest Lion rests in peace”.
Churumba's coffin was later returned to a local funeral home for a family veil guard. The day after, on Monday, January 19, a prayer was offered in Ponce's Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe Cathedral after exposing the mortal remains in the former mayor's home. Cordero's burial was held in the La Piedad Cemetery in Ponce. Former Governor Rafael Hernández Colón and his brother were in charge of the oratory mourning.
His remains were subsequently transferred to the Panteon Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro near downtown Ponce, where they are currently located in a prominent mausoleum.
Read more about this topic: Rafael Cordero Santiago
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or funeral:
“I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me,
I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“That poor little thing was a good woman, Judge. But she just sort of let life get the upper hand. She was born here and she wanted to be buried here. I promised her on her deathbed she’d have a funeral in a church with flowers. And the sun streamin’ through a pretty window on her coffin. And a hearse with plumes and some hacks. And a preacher to read the Bible. And folks there in church to pray for her soul.”
—Laurence Stallings (1804–1968)