By JENNIFER DOBNER (AP) – 1 hour ago
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Thomas
Monson, left, comforts singer Marie Osmond before a graveside service
after the funeral of her son Michael Bryan in Provo, Utah on Monday,
March 8, 2010. (AP Photo/George Frey)
This undated photo provided by the family shows Michael Bryan. The
18-year-old son of Marie Osmond was remembered at a funeral service
Monday, March 8, 2010 with fond words, laughter and music from his
famous singing family. (AP Photo/Osmond Family)
Singer Marie Osmond watches as the casket of her son Michael Bryan is
taken from a Mormon church in Provo, Utah on Monday, March 8, 2010. (AP
Photo/George Frey)
Singer Donny Osmond, right, talks with an unidentified mourner after a
graveside service for his nephew Michael Bryan, son of Marie Osmond, in
Provo, Utah on Monday, March 8, 2010. (AP Photo/George Frey)
PROVO,
Utah — Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son was remembered at a funeral
service Monday with fond words, laughter and music from his famous
singing family.
Michael Bryan's uncle, Donny Osmond, also appealed to God in an opening prayer.
"Bless my sister," he said, breaking into tears. "Bless my sister and her family."
Bryan
was then memorialized by six of his seven siblings as a lighthearted
person and a deep thinker who had a brilliant sense of humor and a
kind, generous heart.
"He was a man of his word. He wasn't a
talker, he was a doer. He was reliable," Bryan's sister Rachel Blosil,
20, said, struggling to express herself through tears. "He knew my
hopes, he knew my dreams, my secrets, things that nobody knows. He was
my best friend."
Police in Los Angeles have said Bryan died Feb.
26 from an apparent suicide after jumping from the eighth floor of the
Metropolitan apartment building. An official cause of death is pending
the results of an autopsy and toxicology tests.
Police said Bryan left a note but have provided no details about its contents.
One
of five children adopted by Marie Osmond, Bryan previously used his
adoptive father's last name, Blosil. Records from Utah's 4th District
Court, however, show a judge had granted him an October 2009 petition
for a legal name change.
Marie Osmond and Brian Blosil divorced
in 2007 after two decades of marriage. She also has three other
children from marriages to Blosil and first husband, Stephen Craig,
whom she divorced in 1985.
In 2007, Marie Osmond said her son had entered a rehabilitation facility but did not disclose what he was being treated for.
About
450 mourners attended Monday's services at a chapel near the Provo
temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including
church President Thomas S. Monson, who offered words of comfort to the
family.
Bryan was a first-year student of apparel manufacturing
at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and had planned
on a career in retail marketing and design, according to a biography of
his life read by the family's Henderson, Nev.-based church bishop, Gary
C. Milne.
The life sketch, a traditional part of Mormon funeral
services, described Bryan as a hardworking, self-motivated person who
loved sports, the arts, traveling and a good meal — from sushi to
Peking duck and Italian pastas. An accomplished musician, Bryan played
five instruments and wrote his own songs. He was also dedicated to
service and since high school had been working with special needs
children, Milne said.
In sharing their memories, Bryan's siblings
painted a portrait of a close-knit family, where laughter and music —
along with whipped cream fights in the family kitchen and other games —
were often present, with Bryan at the center of the fun, despite his
sometimes quiet manner.
"He was an intricate part of our family,"
said Stephen Craig, 26, the eldest of Marie Osmond's children." Each
member of our family and every person here is better for having met
him."
In somewhat of a jest, each of Bryan's siblings proclaimed themselves to be their brother's favorite.
"My
brother Michael loved me the most," said 7-year-old Abigail Blosil, who
drew laughter from the congregation as she launched the friendly,
family competition. "My brother wrote a song about me that said I made
him very happy. See, he did love me the most."
In brief remarks,
Marie Osmond expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support and
prayers she said she's felt since Bryan's death. Marie Osmond expressed
pride in all of her children and acknowledged the presence of Bryan's
birth mother, "who gave me the greatest gift."
"Thank you for those beautiful 18 years," said Marie Osmond, who had not planned to speak at the service.
The
service ended with a traditional Mormon hymn, sung sweetly by Marie
Osmond and her famous brothers — Alan, Merrill, Jay, Wayne, Donny and
Jimmy. The eldest Osmond brothers, Tom and Virl, who are deaf,
accompanied the family by signing the words.
Bryan's silver
coffin was interred at the East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo.
At the graveside, the family scrawled handwritten messages onto orange
balloons before releasing them into the air.
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