Walter Cronkite is seen at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Luncheon in 2006. A memorial paying tribute to his life will be held within the next month, his longtime chief of staff said. (Christopher Atwood/Tempe State Press/Associated Press)

The funeral for esteemed U.S. news anchor Walter Cronkite will be held Thursday, with a memorial to follow in New York within the next month, the broadcaster's longtime chief of staff has announced.

Cronkite, 92, died Friday at his Manhattan home of cerebral vascular disease.

Marlene Adler, who headed Cronkite's staff for the past two decades, said that a private funeral service will take place Thursday at New York's St. Bartholomew's Church, which had counted the celebrated newsman and his late wife among its congregation for many years.

In lieu of flowers, Cronkite's family requests that donations be made to the Walter and Betsy Cronkite Foundation, which will divide the contributions among charities the couple supported.

A memorial is also being planned for Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

"It will be a fitting tribute to Mr. Cronkite and the life he lived, the people he knew, the people who loved him and the people he admired," Adler said.

The longtime CBS anchor, dubbed "the most trusted man in America" for his authoritative delivery of news ranging from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to the Apollo moon landing, is to be cremated.

His remains will then be buried next to those of his wife, Betsy, in their family cemetery plot in Kansas City, Mo.

With files from The Associated Press