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Dozens of fans lined the streets of an Oklahoma City suburb on Tuesday to catch a glimpse of those attending the funeral of Donda West, mother of Grammy-winning hip-hop star Kanye West.
The media and general public were not allowed into the service at True Vine Ministries Church in Spencer or onto church property, but news cameras set up across the street showed Kanye West, as well as friends and fellow stars, Jay-Z and Beyonce emerging from vehicles.
"We came out to support Kanye and his mother," said one fan, Timeka Anderson.
Donda West died Nov. 10 in Marina del Rey, Calif. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner said West, 58, may have died of complications from cosmetic surgery.
A 1967 graduate of Douglass High School, Donda West attended Virginia Union University before receiving her master's degree from Atlanta University and her doctorate from Auburn University in Alabama.
West began her teaching career at Atlanta's Morris Brown College in the early 1970s. A Fulbright scholar, she went on to chair Chicago State University's English department.
After 31 years in higher education, she left academia in 2004 to serve as chairwoman of the Kanye West Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to combat the dropout rate among high school students nationwide. She also served as chief executive officer for West Brands LLC, overseeing her son's business interests.
After the ceremony, Donda West's casket was loaded into a horse-drawn carriage and taken to a nearby cemetery.
Before Tuesday's service, her father, Oklahoma City civil rights leader Portwood Williams Sr., described her as a devoted daughter and respected educator.
"We were real close - very close," said Williams, who often called his youngest child "Big Girl." "She was just number one. One in a million. We have four children, and I've never heard them have an argument with each other. She was just a number one person."
