Tears and Laughter for Clown Who Died in Train Derailment
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AZLE, Tex. — Laughter, applause and clown costumes mixed with tears Monday as hundreds of mourners remembered a circus clown killed in a train derailment.
Ceslee Conkling, 28, posthumously received a standing ovation at the request of the pastor at the Eagle Mountain Baptist Church.
The funeral was a “celebration of her life,” said Kenneth Jones, a family friend and a member of the Cowtown Clowns, to which Conkling also belonged.
There was laughter among the 450 mourners as they watched a videotape of Conkling’s clown antics, Jones said, and a young girl sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children” as a tribute to the youngsters touched by her performances.
Conkling was on a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train that derailed Thursday at a crossing in Florida. She and elephant trainer Ted Svertesky were killed. Fourteen others were injured.
Svertesky, 39, was remembered Sunday at a private service, said a spokeswoman for Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home of Orlando, Fla.
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