San Diego

A private graveside service was held Wednesday in San Diego for Otto Bos, a top aide and confidant to Gov. Pete Wilson, who placed a white rose atop the casket of the man he said he loved like a brother.

Bos, 47, Wilson’s director of communications, collapsed and died of a heart attack Sunday while playing soccer in San Diego.

He was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park after a quiet funeral in a scenic outdoor setting.

Wilson, his chief of staff, Bob White, and Bos’ business partner, George Gorton, were among the few non-family members invited.

They wore white roses in their lapels, and placed the flowers on Bos’ casket after the service, said Bill Livingstone, Wilson’s press secretary.

Wilson will attend a public memorial service for Bos at 4 p.m. today at the Old Globe Theatre Festival Stage in Balboa Park.

Bos left a job as a newspaper reporter in 1977 to work for Wilson, who then was mayor of San Diego, and remained at the core of Wilson’s inner circle of trusted and loyal advisers for the next 14 years.

He was a popular and respected image-builder and communicator for Wilson through three successful statewide campaigns, including his 1982 and 1988 senatorial bids and last year’s run for governor.

An autopsy showed that Bos suffered from severe coronary artery disease in which three of the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart muscle were virtually closed off by fatty deposits.

Bos leaves a wife, Florence, sons Danny and Jacob, and daughter, Susan, and a sister, Grace Bos.