June 17, 2010 – Gary Coleman didn’t want anybody mourning over him. He just wanted to rest in peace.
One out of two ain’t bad.
In an attempt to honor the final wishes of the former Diff’rent Strokes star, the special administrator of Coleman’s estate says that there won’t be a funeral as stipulated in the actor’s 2005 will.
Robert Jeffs, who was appointed by a judge to oversee the estate after a dispute arose between the actor’s live-in ex-wife, Shannon Price, and former girlfriend Anna Gray over which should be the main beneficiary.
Gray is urging the court to accept Coleman’s 2005 will, in which she is named, and invalidate a 2007 handwritten codicil that listed Price as the sole heir. Gray’s team says that under Utah law, Price should get bupkis because she and Coleman were divorced at the time of his death.
In any case, one thing Coleman did want was to be cremated, and the judge in the case has ordered that Jeffs arrange for that wish to be carried out as soon as Gray can make it to Utah from her home in Portland, Ore.
There was no immediate comment from Jeffs and Gray on the lack of any pomp for Coleman’s final send-off.
However, Price spokeswoman Shielia Erickson told E! News that Coleman’s former missus—who has not viewed the actor’s body since she said her goodbyes in the hospital after Coleman died on May 28—still hopes to have some sort of memorial.
“We would love to have a private funeral for family and friends. Shannon has been in bed all day. This is just too much for her. She did not see Gary today. She has been mourning him, though,” Erickson said.
While she didn’t say whether Price planned to see his remains before the cremation, Erickson said Shannon has been in deep mourning, despite what critics say.
“She said to me quote, ‘Remember when Gary said to you, that he never wanted to be without me, I want to be with him after this life. I always want to be with him. I will never love again!’ She is such a kind person, that loves her Gary Coleman,” Erickson said. “They may have had issues at times. But they really did love each other.”
She added that that Coleman was always looking out for her.
“I was with Gary less then 24 hours before he fell, and he kept saying to me make sure Shannon is successful, be there for Shannon. He told me all the time that he could not live without Shannon,” she added.
While Price has expressed a desire to scatter Coleman’s ashes over train tracks, saying that’s what he wanted, no decision will be made on that until the judge sorts out the wills. And there’s no timetable on that.