COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Whitney Houston’s funeral will be held Saturday – as of the Florida Courier’s press time Wednesday night – in the church where she first showcased her singing talents as a child, as her family choose to remember her in a private service rather than in a large event at an arena.

‘Shared with the world’

The church service will be by invitation only, reflecting the family’s decision to keep the memorial more personal, but it is scheduled to be televised and streamed live on the Internet.

"They have shared her for 30-some years with the city, with the state, with the world. This is their time now for their farewell,’’ Whigham said.

Gospel singer and minister Marvin Winans has been chosen to deliver the eulogy.

In his role as a pastor, he married Houston and Bobby Brown in 1992. The Winans and Houston families have been friends for years. Houston performed with Marvin Winans’ sister CeCe and brother BeBe.

Gov. Chris Christie ordered flags flown at half-staff Saturday at state government buildings, describing Houston as a "cultural icon’’ who belongs in the same category of New Jersey music history as Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen.

The White House says President Barack Obama’s thoughts and prayers are with Whitney Houston’s family, especially her daughter. Press secretary Jay Carney says it’s hard not to be an admirer of the singer’s "immense talent." And, he says it is a tragedy to lose somebody so talented at such a young age.

Shocking death

Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. Feb. 11 in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton. Houston’s death came on the eve of music’s biggest night, the Grammy Awards.

An impromptu memorial for Houston was held last week during the sadness-tinged awards show, with Jennifer Hudson saluting her memory with a performance of "I Will Always Love You." Viewership for the awards show soared over last year by 50 percent, with about 40 million viewers tuning into the program on CBS.

Officials say Houston was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a bathtub. Her body remained in the hotel even as her longtime mentor Clive Davis proceeded with his annual concert and dinner.

In 2009, Whitney Houston performed onstage at the 37th Annual American Music Awards in Los Angeles. (AP PHOTO/MATT SAYLES, FILE)

Houston had been at rehearsals for Davis’ show two days before her death, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, a person who was at the event told the Associated Press. The night before, she performed an impromptu version of "Yes, Jesus Loves Me" at a pre-Grammy party with singer Kelly Price.

No foul play

Lt. Mark Rosen of the Beverly Hills Police Department said officers received a 911 call from hotel security about Houston at 3:43 p.m. Saturday and paramedics already were at the hotel because of a Grammy party. Paramedics unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the singer, the lieutenant said.

After an autopsy last Sunday, authorities said there were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner’s office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.

Los Angeles County coroner’s assistant chief Ed Winter said bottles of prescription medicine were found in the room. He would not give details except to say, "There weren’t a lot of prescription bottles. You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet.’’

Surrounded by greatness

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born in Newark and was raised in nearby East Orange. Her mother, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston, led the New Hope church music program for many years. Her cousin singer Dionne Warwick also sang in its choir. Whitney was the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother’s act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America." "To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine,’’ he added.

Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her first Grammy for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multi-platinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

‘Cool self-assurance’

The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation’s most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity.’’

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her Black roots to go pop and reach White audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

Golden girl

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the Black church, but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise. She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey – who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

Bobby and Whitney

Her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown seemed to be an odd union. She was seen as pop’s pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.)

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place,’’ she told Rolling Stone in 1993.

More achievements

Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America’s sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton’s "I Will Always Love You,’’ which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy’s record of the year and best female pop vocal, and "The Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher’s Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It’s Not Right But It’s Okay."

The fall

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher’s Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing...I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day...I wasn’t happy by that point in time. I was losing myself.’’

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

Death rumors

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her behavior and jittery appearance on Brown’s reality show, "Being Bobby Brown,’’ was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "Crack is whack," was often parodied.

She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years before launching what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston’s voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

Last comeback?

Later this year, she will appear in the film "Sparkle," in which she plays a mother concerned about the influence of fame and drugs on her three daughters who form a singing group.

Houston sings a gospel song on camera and a duet with co-star Jordin Sparks over the credits in the film, which began shooting in October. The movie and a soundtrack are set for wide release in August.

"She was on top of her game," said executive producer Howard Rosenman, who saw a rough cut of the movie the day before the singer’s death. "She was really coming back."

The family is asking that any donations in her memory be sent to the arts-focused public school in New Jersey that she attended as a child. In lieu of flowers, they request donations be sent to the Whitney Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in East Orange (http://whitneyhoustonacademy.org).

Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Ryan Nakashima, David Porter?and Beth Defalco of the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A life of music, achievement, and drama: Stevie Wonder, left, and Whitney Houston performed during the ‘’VH1 Divas’’ duets show in Las Vegas. See Page B1 for a look at her life and musical legacy. (AP PHOTO/JOE CAVARETTA)

Carolyn Whigham, owner of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., said that the homegoing service would be held at noon Saturday at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church, which seats up to 1,500. The family said no public memorial service is planned at this time. Officials had discussed the possibility of holding a memorial at the Prudential Center, a major sports and entertainment venue that can seat about 18,000 people, but the funeral home said it had been ruled out.