Details of Muhammad Ali’s Memorial Service

Muhammad Ali’s Memorial Service – According to information released Saturday, June 4, an inter-faith memorial service for Muhammad Ali, open to the public, will be held on Friday, June 10, at 2 PM at the KFC Yum! Center, the largest multi-purpose arena in Louisville. Among the confirmed eulogists are Bill Clinton, Bryant Gumbel, and Billy Crystal. The celebration, said Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell, will be structured in accordance with Ali’s wishes and “will reflect his devotion to people of all races, religions, and backgrounds.”

This will be Ali’s second funeral service following a private ceremony for family and close friends on Thursday. At 9 AM on Friday, a motorcade will leave the funeral home on a procession that will wend through the streets of Louisville. Part of the journey will travel along Muhammad Ali Boulevard. Formerly called Walnut Street, it was renamed in honor of Muhammad Ali in 1978.

The procession will end at the Cave Hill Cemetery and Arboretum where Ali will be buried in a private service. The cemetery houses the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers and within its grounds are monuments to three Union Army generals. Dedicated in 1848 before the abolition of slavery, Cave Hill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

It has come to light that Ali actually spent five days at the Scottsdale, Arizona hospital where he took his last breath. He died from septic shock “due to unspecified natural causes.” He had been in ill health for some time. In the hours following the news of Ali’s death, social media platforms lit up with tributes and words of condolence from all corners of the globe. Louisville lowered flags to half-staff in his honor.

Muhammad Ali’s Memorial Service