Clooney funeral Mass scheduled for Friday

CINCINNATI POST - July 2, 2002

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The funeral service for singer and actress Rosemary Clooney will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick's Church in Maysville, Ky., followed by burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Maysville.

The funeral Mass is open to the public, just as was Ms. Clooney's wedding at the same church in 1997.

Rosemary Clooney grew up in Maysville and later kept a house in nearby Augusta, where she visited regularly. Her brother, Nick Clooney, plans to host a reception, also open to the community, in Augusta following the burial.

Before she died on Saturday, Ms. Clooney had been working on plans for the fourth annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival in Maysville on Sept. 28. That event will go on as scheduled and include a memorial to Ms. Clooney.

"When she became ill, her manager said maybe we should postpone it for a year,'' said Duff Giffen, Main Street manager for Maysville, who helped coordinate the festival as a fund raiser to restore the Russell Theater.

"Rosemary wouldn't cancel it,'' she said. "I got a call. Send out those invitations, she's coming home.

"I have a warm feeling that we created something she was proud of.''

Ms. Clooney and music stars she'd invite to the festival would waive their performance fees. The theater's marquee was just restored using funds from the festivals.

"We're hoping to have it lit on Friday,'' said Giffen.