Tributes for Beth Chapman continue to pour out from across her family. The Dog the Bounty Hunter star passed earlier this week after a battle against cancer, passing surrounded by family while in a medically induced coma at a Hawaiian hospital.
While many of her family members were present at the first of Chapman’s memorial services in Hawaii on Saturday, some were forced to send their condolences online. This includes Duane’s son Wesley.
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Wesley is Duane’s son through his marriage with Anne M. Tengell. The couple was together from 1979 until 1982, splitting shortly after the tragic loss of their son, Zebediah in January 1980.
Despite a less-than-pleasant youth and abandonment by his reality star father and mother by the age of 4, Wesley Chapman has turned himself into a success. He also seems to have improved his relationship with his father, sending out a Bible verse on social media while retweeting Duane’s initial message about Beth’s passing.
“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise,’” Chapman wrote on Twitter. He added that the passage was from Luke 23:43.
The rest of the family helped send Beth off on Saturday in Hawaii. Duane spoke at the event and daughters, Bonnie and Cecily helped to carry their mother’s ashes out to sea from the beachside ceremony.
“She said please Hawaiian style… please do this right,” Dog said during the ceremony. “She loved Hawaii and she loved people. The people mostly she loved.”
Chapman had planned her memorial services in the weeks leading up to her passing.
TMZ reported that the reality star wanted her memorial to be carried out in both Hawaii and Colorado. She and husband Dog both shared homes in those locations and felt the need to have them represented after she passed. TMZ also reported that Beth wanted both her memorial services open to the public, as witnessed on Saturday with the turnout for the event in Hawaii.
The planning was a blessing for the family reportedly, allowing them to discuss her fate in the open and rest easy knowing that plans were in place. Nothing was left off the list for Chapman once she knew the path she was taking.
It also helped heal some wounds within her family. While Wesley seems to have a better relationship with his father at this point, Beth also had some time to mend with stepdaughter Lyssa before passing.
“Lyssa and Beth got back to a place where they needed to be and they reconnected with their faith… and things ended up on great terms,” a source informed Hollywood Life the day before the memorial.
There is no date set for the second memorial event in Colorado yet, but should be expected in the coming weeks.
