Beth Chapman’s family plans to memorialize the late Dog the Bounty Hunter star at a public gathering to honor her life in Hawaii. In a press release, her daughter Cecily and stepdaughter Lyssa Chapman invited the public to come and honor Chapman’s life at Fort DeRussy Beach in Waikiki, Hawaii on Saturday, June 29.
The gathering is set to begin at 2 p.m. with a Hawaiian ‘Oli (chant), prayer and then a “paddle out” with family and friends.
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The family asked those attending to bring ocean-friendly loose flowers, with the exception of leis, as the strings can be harmful to ocean life.
“Beth had two homes – Hawai’i and Colorado. ‘I love Hawai’i the most,’ she said, so she will be sent off in true Hawaiian style, with aloha,” the press release reads.
“Duane Chapman is also finalizing plans for a memorial service in Colorado, and details will be announced shortly. Those wishing to post photos and videos are asked to tag with #alohaoemrsdog.”
The release explained that ‘Oe means ‘you’ in Hawaiian and that it’s customary to say “Aloha ‘Oe” especially when saying goodbye. “There is a song by the same name which Hawaiians often sing at the end of a party, funerals, or when people are leaving the islands,” the release reads.
Previously, Chapman’s husband, Duane “Dog” Chapman, revealed to Hawaii News Now that the family planned on having two separate events to honor her life — one in Hawaii and another in Colorado.
“We would like to do some sort of water paddle out, we know that for sure,” Lyssa Chapman said alongside her father. “It actually makes us feel, you know, warm, to know how much our mother was loved.”
Dog announced Wednesday the his wife of 12 years had died after her battle with cancer, writing on Twitter that she “hiked the stairway to heaven.” She was 51.
The A&E network, which aired Dog the Bounty Hunter during its run from 2004 to 2012, confirmed that it will honor Chapman’s memory with a marathon of episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter airing Monday, with a special “in memory of” title card for the star at the end of each episode.
“We are very saddened by the loss of Beth Chapman and our thoughts are with Dog and the entire Chapman family during this difficult time,” A&E shared in a statement.
WGN America, which is set to produce and air the family’s upcoming series, Dog’s Most Wanted, in 2020, also shared a tribute to the late reality star.
Speaking to Hawaiian press, Dog shared what happened during Beth’s final moments in the hospital.
“One of the last things she said [was], ‘This is a test of my faith.’ She had faith and then that was it,” he said. “… There’s things you go through when you’re dying, like steps. Like you do when you lose someone. You get mad at them and then you go through all these steps. 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.’ Go Bethy.”
“She did it her way. There’s some things [I can’t say], you know, I have a network and a contract, but there’s some things that they predicted that the doctors ended up saying, ‘We’ve never, ever seen anything like this,’” Duane said, referring to his WGN America reality show, Dog’s Most Wanted, he also stated. “…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.”
