It’s been a few days now since Beth Chapman lost her battle with cancer.
And it’s still just so unbelievably sad.
Beth was of course best known as the wife of Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman and appearing on his shows, but it was clear that she was also deeply loved and admired by many.
This became clear when she was first diagnosed with throat cancer in the fall of 2017 — so many people were quick to send her their best wishes and prayers.
Just a couple of months after the initial diagnosis, Beth was told she was cancer-free, but unfortunately that didn’t last.
Last year, the cancer came back, and it also spread to her lungs.
She was hospitalized a few times throughout all of this, but most of the time she was intent on living her life as normally as possible.
It seems that doctors informed her that her prognosis wasn’t good, and she refused to spend whatever time she had left in hospitals or in hospice.
Instead, she worked with Duane on a new show, Dog’s Most Wanted, and did the things that made her happy.
Last weekend, we heard the news that Beth had been placed in a medically-induced coma in a hospital in Hawaii, and a rep for the couple announced that things were “serious.”
It was true — just a few days later, she passed away.
Duane announced her passing in a heartbreaking tweet that read “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.”
It was a touching message, so it only makes sense that her memorial service, which was held yesterday in Hawaii, was also so very sweet.
A rep for the family said that Cecily and Lyssa Chapman, two of Duane and Beth’s children, “invite the public to join the Chapman Ohana for a gathering to honor Beth Chapman’s life.”
“Beth had two homes — Hawaii and Colorado,” the rep explained. “‘I love Hawaii the most,’ she said, so she will be sent off in true Hawaiian style, with aloha.”
The plan was to have an Oli, which is a chant, and prayer, then to have family and friends paddle out into the ocean.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Yesterday afternoon, the people close to Beth as well as strangers who wanted to pay their respects gathered in Waikiki on the beach for the memorial service.
As requested, they brought flowers that were safe to throw into the ocean — friends and family did that after they paddled out.
When Duane spoke, he said that Beth had told him her wishes for her service, saying “Please Hawaiian style … please do this right.”
“She loved Hawaii and she loved people,” he said. “The people mostly she loved.”
A family friend told a local news site that the memorial “was beautiful and overwhelming, for sure.”
“Hawaii is definitely her heart, and I’m just really grateful that we’re able to be a part of it and be here to support the family.”
A fan who flew out to Hawaii all the way from Connecticut said that the service was “absolutely gorgeous.”
“My heart goes out to Dog more than anybody else, just to see how he was and the emotion you could hear behind his voice,” she added.
“It’s just absolutely tragic for him.”
He still has more planning to do — the family will have a second memorial service in Colorado, Beth and Duane’s other home, sometime soon.
That one will be open to the public as well.
Hopefully after this, Duane and Beth’s children will be able to take some time to further mourn this enormous loss.
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Rest in peace, Beth.
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