Newark Native, Ex-N.J. Resident Whitney Houston Dies

Newark native and longtime Mendham Township resident Whitney Houston, a singing superstar whose career foundered over drug abuse, died Saturday at age 48.

Her publicist, Kristen Foster, confirmed that Houston had died, but the cause of her death were unknown, according to MSNBC.com. Entertainment news Web site TMZ.com had details of her death, shortly before 4 p.m. in a room at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Ironically, Houston only recently completed work on her latest movie, "Sparkle," a story of a group of talented singers and musicians whose lives are ruined by drug addiction.

Houston was born in Newark, the third and youngest child of Army serviceman and entertainment industry executive John Russell Houston Jr. and gospel singer Cissy Houston.

She was exposed to some of the top soul and rhythm and blues singers from an early age—her cousins were Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and Aretha Franklin was her godmother.  

Her family moved to East Orange after the Newark riots in 1967, but Houston began her public singing career in the junior gospel choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. Houston attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy in Caldwell for high school.

Houston later bought a home in Mendham Township where she and her family lived for the better part of two decades, and during that period the pop icon spent her down time like many residents would. She shopped in nearby Chester and had local doctors help her through her pregnancy.

Melinda Bass worked at the Dairy Queen in Chester after classes let out at Mendham High School and during summer break when she was home from Ithaca College. While not much of that time by the soft serve may be memorable, working  on a cake for Whitney Houston and her family was something few would forget.

“She used to come in all the time,” Bass said. “Usually when I wasn’t there. I met her daughter and decorated a cake for Bobby Brown’s father.”

Her co-workers at the ice cream shop all regarded Houston well. “Everyone agreed she was so nice and so humble,” Bass said. “This is so sad.”

Livingston native Martha Ackermann saw Houston through a different lens, the one of expectant mother. “When I was pregnant with my daughter Jill my doctor was her back up doctor at St. Barnabus,” Ackermann said. “Everyone said she was so nice and she was just like any other mother.”

Houston put her Mendham residence up for sale in 2009, according to NJ.com. She later lived in Atlanta with husband Bobby Brown, and most recently had a home in Los Angeles.