Mourners gathered to say goodbye to reality TV star Beth Chapman at a memorial service in Hawaii on June 29.
Chapman, star of “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” had recently been placed in a medically induced coma while she battled cancer. She died Wednesday in a Honolulu hospital at age 51.
Beth Chapman’s Family, Friends and Fans Gather for a Memorial on Waikiki to Honor Late Star https://t.co/wSETqOS9n9
— People (@people) June 30, 2019
Beth Chapman’s Memorial in Hawaii — https://t.co/GBHQx1R7Ww
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 27, 2019
Her memorial service in Waikiki started with a prayer then family and friends paddled out from Fort DeRussy Beach and tossed flowers into the ocean in her memory, CNN affiliate KHNL reported. They were urged to only use unattached flowers and not lei, whose strings can harm marine life.
Family and friends toss flowers in the ocean at Beth Chapman’s memorial in Hawaii https://t.co/yQWZHQO3iT pic.twitter.com/UPznBuyyup
— KRON4 News (@kron4news) June 30, 2019
In the eulogy, Duane Chapman talked about how after his mother’s passing she was laid to rest in Hilo, Hawaii, and how a local tribesman declared him an official Hawaiian since his mother “was part of the land, the sea, the sky, and the rain.”
“And now Beth is going to be placed here too. She got there before I did, my island,” Chapman jokingly added.
He said that Beth unusually called him by his stage name, “Dog,” when expressing her wish for a Hawaiian-style memorial.
“She said, ‘Please, Hawaiian style, Duane Dog Chapman.’ I tried to have her call me Dog for so many years. She said, ‘Please do this right,’ so I appreciate everyone being here. I have to go out on the boat so I can see everybody right, its Hawaiian tradition and style. Thank you all, God bless, Aloha.”
After the eulogy, a Hawaiian outrigger boat headed out to sea, joined by surfers for a final “paddle out.”
#alohaoemrsdog pic.twitter.com/DejZcUN3dE
— Bonnie Chapman (@Bonniejoc) June 28, 2019
Dozens of family, friends, and fans attended the memorial, which was open to the public. Earlier, Bonnie Chapman, the couple’s daughter, shared an invitation to the event on social media.
“In her own words, she said, “I love Hawaii” the most, so we are sending her off in true Hawaiian style, aloha,” the invitation reads.
Some recorded the memorial on their phones before sharing on social media.
— Lyssa Chapman (@BabyLyssaC) June 27, 2019
If you’d like to pay respects, feel free to. pic.twitter.com/fuOsOBm27Q
— Bonnie Chapman (@Bonniejoc) June 26, 2019
At Beth Chapman’s Service pic.twitter.com/hHRKWVey8i
— NinjAloha50 (@ninjaloha50) June 30, 2019
Another service will be held for Beth Chapman in Colorado, where the couple had another home.
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek and The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
