Funeral Friday for gospel singer Cleotha Staples

CHICAGO (AP) — Gospel singer Cleotha Staples will be remembered Friday at a funeral service in Chicago.

The eldest sibling in the highly influential gospel group The Staple Singers died last Thursday at her Chicago home at age 78.

Visitation will be held from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Thursday at Leak & Sons Funeral home on the city's South Side.

A wake will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Trinity United Church of Christ, followed by the funeral at 11 a.m.

Staples will be buried in Oakwood Cemetery where her parents, Roebuck "Pops" Staples and Oceola Staples, and her sister Cynthia also are buried.

Cleotha Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her family in 1999 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 2005.