Family to Paddle out Into Ocean for Beth Chapman Memorial

Web Staff
By Web Staff
June 29, 2019Entertainment
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Family to Paddle out Into Ocean for Beth Chapman Memorial
Reality television personality Duane "Dog" Chapman (L) and wife Beth Chapman arrive at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2008. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

HONOLULU—A Hawaii memorial service for “Dog the Bounty Hunter” reality TV show co-star Beth Chapman will feature a prayer followed by family and friends paddling out into the ocean.

Beth died on Wednesday, June 26, after a battle with cancer. She was 51.

Beth and her husband Duane “Dog” Chapman starred in the A&E show until it was canceled in 2012. They later starred in Country Music Television’s “Dog & Beth: On the Hunt.”

"Dog the Bounty Hunter" stars Beth Chapman and Duane "Dog" Chapman
TV personality Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman and his wife Beth in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 10, 2011. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

WGN America is in production on “Dog’s Most Wanted.” A trailer for the show was released earlier this month.

Family spokeswoman Mona Wood-Sword says those attending Saturday’s service in Waikiki are asked to bring “ocean-friendly loose flowers,” but no lei because the string isn’t good for marine life.

A memorial service is being planned in Colorado, where Beth Chapman was born.

Really Unexpectedly

Duane said that his wife had remained selfless to the end, revealing her final words in his first interview since she passed away on June 26, saying that her death had come “really unexpectedly.”

Duane told reporters, in an interview broadcast by Hawaii News Now, that her last words to him and their two daughters were “I love you,” and “are you guys all OK? Don’t worry.”

“I didn’t know anything to do but to say ‘in Jesus name’ and hold her and when I said ‘in Jesus name’ she said, ‘Say it again, say it more,”’ Duane said.

She then turned to her family and sought to offer them assurances before she finally slipped away.

NTD Photo
(Getty Images | Jason Merritt)

Even though they had known “this day would come” for a few years, “it came really unexpected, really fast,” Chapman said, nearly breaking down in the interview.

“It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain. Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven. We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side,” Duane Chapman wrote on Twitter.

Something Fans Do Not Know About Beth

Duane also posted a video of his wife on June 28. He wrote: “People have asked me. What is something fans do not know about Beth… Here you go.”

He also said at a press conference this week: “Her way was to live. She wanted to live so bad and she fought so long, and the reason she fought, she liked life but she wanted to show people how to beat it and what to do when it got her,” according to Hawaii News Now.

“Beth was somewhat of a control person—not from the grave but from heaven,” Duane told reporters. “I’m sure she’s still controlling me and I’ve got notes in my pillowcases, on my sink, in my shaving thing. She’s still telling me what to wear.”

Beth-Chapman
Beth Chapman in Honolulu. (Mona Wood-Sword/File Photo via AP)

“She did it her way. … Her way was to live. She wanted to live so bad and she fought so long, and the reason she fought, she liked life but she wanted to show people how to beat it and what to do when it got her,” Duane Chapman added.

It’s a Test of My Faith

The couple has talked about their faith previously.

“One of the last things she said [was] ‘It’s a test of my faith.’ She had faith and that was it,” Chapman told Hawaii News Now. “Well, the last step when you’re dying is to accept it, and she said to me the other day, ‘Honey, that last step, I ain’t taking…’ So go Bethy.”

Duane also told Us Weekly in December that she wanted to explore alternative treatment methods and wasn’t always cooperating with her doctors.

“Beth will not take anything the doctors want to give her. Even the doctor told me he doesn’t want her to have seizures if the pain is that bad, but she won’t do it,” he told the news outlet. “She takes over-the-counter pain meds. She will not take anything prescription.”

TV personalities Duane Dog Lee Chapman and Beth Chapman attend the 2013 CMT Music Awards
TV personalities Duane “Dog” Lee Chapman and Beth Chapman attend the 2013 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 5, 2013. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

“Chemotherapy is not my bag, people. Sorry, that’s not for me,” she was quoted as saying by Popculture.com in May. “So for me, this is the ultimate test of faith. This is my ultimate lesson. And it will either be taught to me or to you. And I am fine with taking the hit for everyone else. Because I think I know another guy who did the same thing.”

In May, Beth issued a statement for the first time about her fight with cancer.

“Fighting cancer is the toughest battle I’ve ever been in,” the 51-year-old said, according to Page Six. “But my faith in God and the love of my family is helping me through.”

Simon Veazey, Jack Phillips, and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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