During the Celebration of Life memorial service for Beth Chapman, her close friend Shannon Tweed remembered the first time she met the Dog the Bounty Hunter star and their friendship. Tweed, the husband of KISS rocker Gene Simmons, said they met during a photo shoot and discussed their husbands. The reality star did her best to talk to the gathered crowd, even as she teared up.
Tweed began her speech by singing part of Billy Joel’s “She’s Got A Way,” amending the first like to “she had a way about her.” She also noted the similarities between their relationships, as both “ended up with these larger than life men.”
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The former Gene Simmons Family Jewels star said Chapman also gave her some advice for handling her husband. “Never let your man go out fully loaded,” Chapman said, Tweed recalled.
Tweed also discussed how difficult it was to see Chapman look weak during her final days.
The Chapman family previously held a small memorial in Waikiki, Hawaii, days after Chapman’s death. However, they also planned Saturday’s event at Heritage Christian Center in Aurora, Colorado so her friends and family in the mainland states also had an opportunity to say goodbye.
Tweed and Chapman were close friends, often appearing on each others’ Instagram pages. In June, Tweed, 62, was criticized for an Instagram post in which she wrote “Sweet dreams my friend” before Chapman’s death. At the time, Chapman was still in a medically induced coma.
Chapman died on June 26 after a battle with throat cancer. She was thought to be cancer-free in late 2017, but the cancer returned and spread to other parts of her body. Three days before her death, she was rushed to the hospital and put in a medically induced coma, but never recovered.
“We had fun, didn’t we? I’ll miss you. RIP [Elizabeth] Alice Chapman,” Tweed wrote on Instagram after Chapman’s death, referring to her real first name.
Before Chapman died, she filmed episodes of Dog’s Most Wanted, a new series with her husband, Duane “Dog” Chapman. It is expected to debut on WGN America next year.
