Dec 10, 2007 2:00 pm US/Eastern
Mourners Honor Daredevil Evel Knievel
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) ―
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Daredevil Evel Knievel, shown in this 1974 photo, died Nov. 30, in Clearwater, Fla. (File)
AP
Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel is being remembered for his fearless spirit. A few thousand people today turned out in Butte, Montana, to pay respects to the American icon who donned red, white and blue as he defied death. Knievel died last month in after years of failing health.
Fireworks illuminated the night sky with bursts of Knievel's trademark red, white and blue on Sunday when a hearse carrying his body arrived at the Butte Civic Center, the town's largest indoor venue, for a public viewing.
"There's only a few people that you can say a name anywhere in the world and you know who he is," said Jim Richards of Butte as he sat with his young son in the arena while mourners walked past the casket surrounded by poinsettias.
Large photos of Knievel rested on easels nearby, slides appeared on a large screen and a sound system blared a mix of country music and Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
"He never forgot his roots," said Richards, 49, who grew up in Butte.
After the service, a hearse was to carry Knievel's body along a six-mile route named for him in this old mining city of about 35,000 people. A private burial was planned.
Knievel, who used to speed motorcycles over local mine dumps as a boy, died Nov. 30 in Clearwater, Fla., after suffering pulmonary fibrosis and diabetes for years. He made detailed plans for his funeral.
The annual Evel Knievel Days festival draws tens of thousands to the city. Knievel frequently attended the event, though as a frail man who'd lived through too many motorcycle crashes and other ordeals, including a liver transplant.
Over the years, Knievel returned often to Butte, an industrial city with a large Irish influence. Some 35,000 people live in the southwestern Montana town that, in many ways, contrasts with the state's usual image of wide-open spaces, trout streams and cowboys. In Butte, visitors can pay $2 to see an old mining pit now filled with polluted water or take a guided tour of old brothels.
"He was right up there with Elvis and Sinatra," said George Riojas of Butte. Riojas said he admired Knievel's ability to maintain an enduring image even when "we're always itching for a new face," and his loyalty to his hometown long after he moved away.
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