Saying Farewell to ‘The Voice’

Robert Wagner broke down as he delivered one of the eulogies. Frank Sinatra Jr. eloquently said so long to his father. Kirk Douglas commented during another eulogy that with the legendary singer joining his deceased Rat Pack buddies, “heaven will never be the same.”

But as his funeral ended Wednesday, it was Sinatra who serenaded himself out.

The star-studded service at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills was a fairly traditional affair: a choir sang “Ave Maria” at the beginning; the archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, delivered the homily.

But then, at the close, came Sinatra’s recorded voice wafting through the church, singing “Put Your Dreams Away.”

At that moment, singer Edie Adams recalled later, “I think we all lost it. It was the first time we heard Frank.”

The body of Sinatra, who died of heart failure last Thursday at 82, was later flown from Van Nuys to Palm Springs and laid to rest at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, where his parents are buried.

About 500 people attended the funeral--and just about as many spectators lined the sidewalk across Bedford Drive to the east of the church and along Santa Monica Boulevard on the other side.

Guests were a mixture of old Hollywood and not-so-old Hollywood--from Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn to Tom Selleck, squaring his shoulders to adjust his suit jacket as he made his way to the church, and Bruce Springsteen. Composer and record producer Quincy Jones, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, singer Dionne Warwick and talk show host Larry King were among the guests. Comedians like Norm Crosby and Dom DeLuise--better known from variety shows and lounge acts than MTV and Letterman--were also there. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was in attendance. Comedian Don Rickles and singer Steve Lawrence were among the pallbearers. Other guests included Wayne Newton, Milton Berle, Tony Curtis, Diahann Carroll, Robert Stack, Joey Bishop, Angie Dickinson, Marlo Thomas, Phil Donahue, Tony Danza and Ed McMahon. Paramount Studios head Sherry Lansing and former MCA/Universal Studios chief Lew Wasserman attended the service as well.

All were required to flash glossy white invitation tickets that read in purple script, “Francis Albert Sinatra, Funeral Mass.”

In one poignant moment before the start of the Mass, Sinatra’s daughter Nancy laid her head in prayer against her father’s gardenia-draped coffin for several minutes. Nearby, Liza Minnelli embraced Mia Farrow, Sinatra’s third wife.

“He sang for the world for 60 years,” said Frank Sinatra Jr. during the two-hour service. “Today and last night, everyone sang for him, and he listened.”

Sinatra Jr., his father’s last bandleader, then looked at the casket and said, “So long, buddy, and take care of yourself.”

With sunlight pouring through the church’s stained-glass windows, Sinatra’s widow, Barbara, was the first to take communion from Mahony, who would later remember Sinatra’s philanthropic work.

“He saw to the needs of others,” the cardinal said.

Sinatra Jr. called his father a “reckless, rogue sentimental fella.”

“His favorite words,” recalled producer George Schlatter, “were ‘Jack’ and ‘Daniels.’ His least favorite: Take two.”

Douglas urged the crowd to celebrate the “man with a God-given talent.”

“Barbara, Frank loved you very much,” said Douglas, his voice only slightly slurred from a stroke. “We all know that, so don’t cry too much. Think of Frank up there with Dean Martin, up there with Sammy Davis Jr.”

Onlookers wedged themselves against waist-high barricades on Bedford, straining for a glimpse of a famous person stepping out of a limo. Malcolm Callen, 37, and his wife Rebecca, 35, tourists from Fort Deposit, Ala., took pictures and wrote down names of the stars they sighted. Mary Wooldridge, a letter carrier in the neighborhood, was carting a camera to snap pictures before starting her mail delivery.

Gail Wells, 52, brought her dog and staked out a position across Santa Monica Boulevard from the church. “I grew up with him--all my dating was done to Frank Sinatra music,” said Wells, who never saw the singer in concert. She said of the funeral, “This is the only thing I’ll go to that he’s at.”

Some stars who appeared as a skywriter created a giant heart in the blue sky were those whose appeal seems ageless. The crowd of onlookers cheered the appearance of Tony Bennett. When Debbie Reynolds stepped from a limo, wearing a black pillbox hat with a tiny swatch of black veil down the back, the crowd yelled her name. She smiled and gave a little wave. When Sophia Loren walked into the church, a school bus on Santa Monica just happened to get caught at a traffic light blocking the sight lines of photographers across the street poised to capture her image. “You blew Sophia Loren!” a photographer screamed in frustration at the bus.

The color of choice for clothing and vehicles was black. The men wore black suits, the women were attired in sleek black skirt suits and pants outfits and high heels. Many were ferried to the church in limousines and Lincoln Town Cars, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, all of which came purring up to a waiting line of 15 valets uniformed in blue vests or red jackets.

Inside, the church was awash in white flowers, particularly gardenias, Sinatra’s favorite. The fragrance filled the sanctuary as guests listened to the cardinal’s homily and the eulogists offered their memories.

“I laughed and I cried, I laughed and I cried--we all did, it was a celebration of his life,” said Tom Dreesen, 53, a comedian who toured with Sinatra for 13 years and served as a pallbearer.

“His spirituality was really brought out--his love for people and for his country,” said Florence LaRue of the singing group the Fifth Dimension, which toured with Sinatra. “Most people were talking about how he liked to live. Someone said his idea of going out to dinner involved bringing your passport. He believed in the now, they said.”

Gently noted was Sinatra’s legendary temper. One guest quoted a eulogist: “Short fuse? He had no fuse!”

Several guests said afterward that as fulfilled as they were by the funeral, this service was not Frank doing it his way.

“Frank wouldn’t have liked it. Frank would have said, ‘Make it 10 minutes, and get it over with,’ ” said Dreesen. “But we loved it.”

Times staff writer Tom Gorman contributed to this story.