A 55-year-old New Jersey man died on Tuesday. That much is fact.
But due to dueling obituaries for him — one apparently submitted by his wife, the other apparently by his girlfriend — the rest is a little murky.
Both obituaries were published in The Press of Atlantic City, one on top of the other, and both included the same photo of the deceased, who lived in Egg Harbor Township.
The first obituary identifies the man as Leroy Bill Black and says he was survived by "his loving wife, Bearetta Harrison Black and his son, Jazz Black." It says Black died at home on Aug. 2 surrounded by his family. No cause of death is given.
The second obituary identifies him as Leroy "Blast" Black and also says Black died at home — but makes no mention of any family being there. It says in addition to his son, Jazz, Black is survived by his siblings, other family, friends, and his "longtime girlfriend, Princess Hall."
That obituary also says he was a fiberglass technician who died of lung cancer due to fiberglass exposure.
Neither the wife nor the girlfriend could be reached by NBC News, and NBC News could not confirm the content of the death notices.
A viewing is set for Saturday afternoon and Black's funeral is scheduled for Sunday at Greenidge Funeral Homes in Atlantic City. A staff member at Greenidge who did not identify herself told NBC News that she had received a phone call from a mourner "asking if there's going to be a problem between the wife and the girlfriend" at the funeral.
Joseph Greenidge Jr., the funeral director at Greenidge Funeral Homes, told KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia it isn't unheard of for there to be multiple obituaries written from different perspectives. But, he said, they took direction from Leroy's wife regarding the funeral arrangements.
"We follow the state law, which is that there is one point of contact. And in this case, as in any case, it would be the spouse, and so we followed the direction of the spouse," he told the station.
