Whitney Houston set to be buried

Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images

The hearse carrying the body of Whitney Houston arrives for her private burial at the Fairview Cemetery on Sunday in Westfield, N.J.

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody, NBCNewYork.com

Whitney Houston is set to be buried Sunday at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, N.J., a day after an emotional goodbye to the legendary singer at a packed private ceremony in Newark.

Houston will be buried next to her father, John Russell Houston. The hearse carrying her body departed from Whigham Funeral Home, where she was returned after Saturday's funeral, shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday.

Further burial service plans were not made public.

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The burial follows an hours-long funeral service Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church, where hundreds of invited friends and family -- many of them stars themselves -- turned out to mourn the loss of the pop icon.

After all the testimonials from relatives and friends, the songs from legends and pop stars, the preaching and even laughter, the raw emotion of Whitney Houston's funeral came down to just one moment: The sound of her own voice.

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As the strains of her biggest record, "I Will Always Love You," filled the New Hope Baptist Church at the end of the nearly four-hour service Saturday and her silver-and-gold casket was lifted in the air, the weight of the moment was too much for her mother to bear.

Gospel singer Cissy Houston wailed, "My baby! My baby!" as she was held up by two women and led out of the church behind her daughter's body.

A few steps behind her was the pop icon's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, also crying uncontrollably as she was comforted by Houston's close friend, singer Ray J.

It was the most searing scene on a day with mixed moods as family, friends and a list of celebrities ? sometimes one and the same ? came to the humble New Hope Baptist Church, where Whitney Houston first wowed a congregation, to remember one of music's legends, but also a New Jersey hometown girl.

Houston died the previous Saturday in Beverly Hills, Calif., on the eve of the Grammys at the age of 48.

Her death marked the end of a life of stunning achievement. Blessed with a voice of great power and beauty, Houston became one of pop music's most successful artists over a career that spanned nearly three decades and segued into film with hits like "The Bodyguard."

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But her life was not without struggles. An addiction to drugs and a tumultuous union with ex-husband Bobby Brown saw her tumbling from grace.

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