Private Clemons Memorial Features Bruce Springsteen

As last wishes go, Clarence Clemons’ was a doozy, according to a story by Shannon Donnelly at palmbeachdailynews.com.

He asked Victoria, his titian-haired fifth wife, to scatter his ashes at a cherished spot in Hawaii and to do so with “all of the special women in his life” – including his previous wives.

Victoria, speaking at her husband’s memorial service at the Royal Poinciana Chapel on Tuesday, told 150 friends and family members – including three of the four ex-wives, who were seated near her at the service – that she would do exactly that.

Clemons, saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and a resident of Singer Island, died Saturday from complications of a stroke he suffered a week earlier. He was 69.

The private, by-invitation service was a bit late getting started due to a last-minute rehearsal for the performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and the E Street Band.

Clemons’ brother, a career Marine who is now an ordained minister, sat at the altar next to the Rev. Robert Norris.

Springsteen, playing solo, offered a softened, almost tender version of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, the song that recalls his first meeting with Clemons in an Asbury Park bar on a snowy day.

Springsteen went on to eulogize his friend – breaking down only once, when describing that first meeting – as a man not only big in stature, but big in heart and spirit.

He said Clemons was hardly the uncomplicated man many thought him to be.

“Clarence was a man of unconditional love, but his love came with a lot of conditions,” he said, drawing chuckles and murmurs of agreement from many in the assemblage. “He was a complex guy … an ongoing project. But when you were in his presence, it was like being in a sovereign nation.”

In addition to the gospel song Take My Hand Precious Lord and a thundering version of How Great Thou Art by the chapel’s organist, the music included a mournful saxophone solo of Amazing Grace performed by Clemons’ nephew.

The service ended with a rollicking, upbeat – except for the perpetually morose Browne – rendition of You’re a Friend of Mine, Clemons’ 1985 hit with Browne, performed by Springsteen, the E Street Band and Browne.

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