Jorgensen Wanted No Rites, Just a Happy Party, Friend Says

In a manner befitting the celebrity her sex change operation brought more than 36 years ago, Christine Jorgensen requested that there be no memorial service after her death but rather a lavish party for her closest friends and relatives, her companion and roommate said Thursday.

“It was show-biz as far as Chris was concerned,” said Brenda Lana Smith, a former Danish honorary consul in Bermuda who lived with Jorgensen in a two-bedroom San Clemente apartment for the past 6 months. “She loved to party. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

Jorgensen, who would have turned 63 on May 20, died Wednesday at San Clemente General Hospital after a long bout with cancer. At her request, Jorgensen will be cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

Smith said Jorgensen asked that, instead of flowers, donations be sent to the Motion Picture Actor’s Home in Woodland Hills.

‘For Everyone to Enjoy’

“And she said that in a few weeks, there should be a big party for all her friends and for everyone to enjoy themselves.”

Born George Jorgensen Jr. in the Bronx in 1926, Jorgensen served in the military and on Dec. 1, 1952, underwent a sex-change operation at a Danish hospital and walked out with the new name Christine. She became one of the world’s most prominent transsexuals and parlayed her celebrity into nightclub acts, speeches and a book.

At first, she abhored the publicity surrounding her new life style. Later, she learned to embrace it with relish.

“Chris always got along with reporters,” her friend said. “After all those terrible things they wrote about her early on, she still liked them. Chris liked everyone.”

Smith said Jorgensen’s condition deteriorated rapidly over the last several weeks. She suffered a seizure at their apartment shortly before noon Monday and was rushed to the hospital, where she remained until her death. Jorgensen was diagnosed as having bladder cancer in 1987 and just 6 weeks ago learned that she had three tumors on her brain, Smith said.

She had been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the past 1 1/2 years.

“We knew it was imminent,” Smith said. “Around 2 weeks ago, it was getting to the point that life was not the quality that she wanted. Unfortunately, the radiation was taking its toll, and she lost her hair again. She was not well.”

Regained Consciousness

According to Smith, Jorgensen regained consciousness Monday afternoon and became somewhat more lucid the next day. But after consulting with doctors, Smith said, she decided to invoke “the living will we had made together, which said that if she couldn’t make decisions for herself, then I would do it for her.”

“She didn’t want to be on life support,” Smith said, “and I made my decision” to keep her off it.

“The decision was made in consultation with the doctor. She would never have come out of her condition, and it (seizures) would have happened again. That was not the life style she wanted. The alternatives were not what Chris wanted--to put her on a life-support system, do SCAT scans and that kind of thing.

“She was a very pragmatic woman. She doesn’t want anyone to mourn for her.”

Smith said Jorgensen died at 3:59 p.m. with Jorgensen’s sister and one of her nieces at her bedside.