Michael Jackson Mourned In Gary Hometown During LA Memorial (SLIDESHOW)
GARY, Ind. (AP) -- Wearing Michael Jackson T-shirts and listening to hits like "Billie Jean," dozens of fans gathered at the late pop icon's boyhood home in Gary, Ind., on Tuesday, the day of his star-studded memorial in Los Angeles.
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Christina Storms, 34, drove her two daughters more than 260 miles from New Albany, Ind., to see the modest home in the hardscrabble northwest Indiana city where Jackson lived until age 11. The trio was decked out in Jackson T-shirts.
"It's exciting just to be here and it's something the kids won't forget," said Storms, who paid $100 for souvenirs from vendors camped out under tents across the street.
As thousands attended the Los Angeles public memorial with stars like Mariah Carey and Lionel Richie, a steady stream of fans came by Jackson's small childhood home where teddy bears, flowers and balloons piled up outside.
For some fans it was the closest they could get to the star, who left Gary in 1969 after the Jackson 5 recorded their first album.
"We can't go to the funeral, so we came to let the family know we're thinking and praying," said Edna Williams, 58, a retired steelworker from Gary.
For many, the Jackson home was the preferred place to remember one of Gary's most famous residents. Jackie Patterson, who lives in Los Angeles, grew up in Gary and was glad to be home to pay her respects.
"It's a good spirit here. It feels like he could be right here," she said.
Retired chemical operator Jackie Ford, a self-described "die-hard" fan who used to do Jackson's signature "moonwalk" and who once wore a white glove, drove to Gary from Aberdeen, Miss.
"I felt like I needed to pay homage to 'the greatest,'" the 49-year-old man said Tuesday. "I saw it on TV and now I'm here. It's like my dream came true."
Ford came to Gary with his fiance, Candi Dixon, 36, a nurse assistant from Kalamazoo, Mich.
"This is a moment we'll always remember," she said. "This is the closest we could get to him."
Gary, about 30 miles southeast of Chicago, has planned its own Jackson memorial at a minor league ballpark on Friday.
At a chain restaurant attached to the ballpark, about 50 people watched the Los Angeles memorial on big-screen TVs, clapping and singing along to Jackson's songs.
Gerald Brown, a 37-year-old barber from Gary, said he came to the restaurant to be around others who felt the same way about Jackson as he does.
"You know Michael is about love and unity, and you want that feeling when you go to his memorial," Brown said. "He is Gary, his name alone represents Gary."
For Jacqui Hamilton, who wiped away tears as she watched the memorial, the most touching part came when Jackson's daughter Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson spoke.
"His daughter, it's just heartbreaking," the Gary native said. "Michael was a misunderstood person, and maybe this tribute gave people insight into who he really was."
Shirley Campbell of Bolingbrook, Ill., also planned to watch the Los Angeles memorial on television.
"We're kind of still in mourning," said Campbell, 50. "He's one of the best and no one can replace him."
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
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First Posted: 07- 7-09 08:14 PM | Updated: 07- 7-09 08:17 PM