The body of former heavyweight champion and Beaufort native Joe Frazier will remain in Philadelphia and not be sent to Beaufort, a funeral home official and a Frazier family member said today.

The decision to not transport the body to Beaufort was made early this morning, according to Frazier’s niece, Dannett Frazier of Beaufort.

An official at Marshel’s Wright-Donaldson Home for Funerals, which is handling the Beaufort County arrangements, confirmed that the body would remain in Philadelphia, where Frazier spent most of his life after leaving Beaufort at age 16.

Marshel's also reported that the service planned for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Bethesda Christian Fellowship Church, 36 Martin Luther King Drive on St. Helena Island, would be changed from a funeral service to a memorial service.

After that service, a memorial will be held at noon Wednesday in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park for Frazier.