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Thousands expected at funeral

This story originally appeared July 16, 2003

By DANIELLE C. BELTON, Californian staff writer
e-mail: dbelton@bakersfield.com | Thursday, Feb 15 2007 3:25 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Feb 15 2007 3:25 PM

Organizers are expecting thousands of people to attend the funeral service this morning for five family members who were found slain in their central Bakersfield home last week.

Family, friends and people throughout Bakersfield will be saying goodbye to Joanie Harper, 39, her children Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, 6 weeks, and Joanie's mother, local community activist Earnestine Harper, 70.

The five were found dead last Tuesday, shot to death in their home on the corner of Third and P streets. The house has since turned into a makeshift memorial for the family as people leave flowers, candles and stuffed animals along the iron fence.

The funeral is set for 11 a.m. at the Bakersfield Convention Center, 1001 Truxtun Ave. The service is open to the public.

Organizers have been working since Monday to prepare the center for the memorial service.

Vincent Edward Brothers, 41, Joanie Harper's husband and the father of her three children, is expected to attend the service.

Brothers is the only person police have named as a possible suspect in the case. Family members on the Harper side said they have been working with Brothers in preparation for the memorial.

Dee Slade, who is acting as a media representative for the Harper family, said family members have consulted with Brothers over the phone regarding the funeral. Slade said the family recognizes that Brothers needs to be a part of it and the Harpers are "looking at everything spiritually."

"Right now this is a family affair," Slade said Monday.

One of Joanie Harper's two brothers, Eddie Harper of Winter Haven, Fla., said Sunday more than 100 relatives of the Harpers were coming from out of town to attend the services. Members of Brothers' family have come to Bakersfield as well to support Brothers, a vice principal at Fremont School.

Scott Morton, the marketing director for the center, said the convention area can hold about 3,000 people.

Rucker's Mortuary is organizing the funeral. Owner Wilma Rucker Davis said they've had to do as many as five or six services in a week, but doing five at once is a first for her.

Davis said the community response toward this tragedy has been overwhelming.

"A lot of love was sparked into the community, a lot was given and received," Davis said.

She said the funeral home has received at least 50 flower orders and have two mortuaries and 14 staff members working on the Harper funeral.

"We've had someone call from New York talking about sending flowers," Davis said.

Joanie's brothers, Eddie and Robert N. Harper of Houston, will be officiating the service with the interment following at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Both Harper brothers are ministers.

Hillcrest donated four grave plots to the family. Baby Marshall will be buried with his mother, Joanie.

The Harper family is paying a standard fee to use the city-owned Convention Center for the funeral, said general manager Jim Foss.

"It hurt me to hand them a bill," he said.

But Foss said he and city officials agreed that taxpayer dollars couldn't be used to pay for power and event staff for a private event.

Today's funeral will remember the lives of the Harpers.

Friends have described them as "just good people."