Thursday's funeral is an extremely private affair . . . as the reclusive DiMaggio wanted
RELATED VIDEO CNN's Mark Bernheimer reports on Joe DiMaggio's funeral Windows Media 28K 80K

March 11, 1999
Web posted at: 6:52 p.m. EST (2352 GMT)

In this story: Estranged son is pallbearer Joltin' Joe's record San Francisco seeks to honor native son RELATED STORIES, SITES

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- Baseball great Joe DiMaggio, known as the Yankee Clipper for his grace as he sailed across center field at Yankee Stadium, was temporarily entombed Thursday in his family mausoleum at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.

A permanent mausoleum for DiMaggio will be built this year, the San Francisco Catholic Diocese said.

Born in Martinez, California, DiMaggio died Monday at his home in Hollywood, Florida, after six months with lung cancer. He was 84.

DiMaggio's graveside service, like his funeral Mass, was attended by about 50 family members and close friends. DiMaggio had requested the invitation-only services, allowing those closest to him to pay their final respects in private.

Police cordoned off about 300 fans and reporters in a park across from the twin-spired Sts. Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco's Italian enclave of North Beach, where DiMaggio spent his childhood.

The crowd burst into spontaneous applause and shouted "bravo" as the brown casket covered with white flowers was carried down the steps of the church where DiMaggio had received his First Communion and married his first wife, Dorothy Arnold, in 1939.

One of those standing behind the police barricade was J.D. Reynolds of Oklahoma, whose father had been a teammate of DiMaggio.

North Beach bars and restaurants still honor the Yankee Clipper with photographs from the glory years

He remembered his father, former New York Yankee pitcher Allie Reynolds, saying DiMaggio was the greatest player he had ever seen.

"My dad said he had a great record because, when he was pitching, someone would hit one, and Joe would run a mile to catch it," Reynolds recalled.

The Rev. Armand Oliveri, 79, who grew up with DiMaggio, celebrated the funeral Mass. DiMaggio's younger brother, Dominic, gave the eulogy.

Dominic DiMaggio spoke about his brother's quest for privacy, his love of children and the one significant hollow in his life.

He said his twice-divorced brother had everything in his record-setting baseball career, except for the right woman to share his life.

To fill that void, Dominic said, his brother dedicated his life away from baseball to helping children, including establishing a children's wing in a hospital in Hollywood, Florida.

DiMaggio's only child, Joseph Paul DiMaggio Jr., was one of the pallbearers who carried the casket from the church after the service. The son, who works in a northern California junkyard and lives in a trailer, had not talked with his father in the past two years.

Other pallbearers were Roger Stein and James Hamra, the husbands of DiMaggio's two granddaughters; Joseph DiMaggio, son of the player's late brother, Mike; Joe Nacchio, a friend of DiMaggio's for 59 years; and Morris Engelberg.

Engelberg, DiMaggio's close friend and attorney, said the Hall of Famer wanted a private service, and his family was determined to follow his wishes. That meant excluding Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

"If there was one more person outside the family to be there, Joe would have wanted George Steinbrenner," Engelberg said Wednesday. A Yankees spokesman said Steinbrenner declined an invitation because he didn't want an exception made in his case.

DiMaggio, the son of an immigrant Italian fisherman and the hero known to generations as the Yankee Clipper and Joltin' Joe, was the star of the Yankees during baseball's golden era.

DiMaggio roamed center field for the Yankees for 13 seasons, from 1936 through 1951, with three years off for military service in World War II. With the help of DiMaggio's bat and glove, the Yankees won 10 American League titles and nine World Series.

His 56-game hitting streak in 1941 still stands and is considered one of the landmark records in all of sports.

DiMaggio's ties to San Francisco also include his marriage there in 1954 to screen siren Marilyn Monroe, a union that lasted less than a year.

City officials, looking for a suitable way to honor the native son, put out a call for ideas on landmarks or streets to name after DiMaggio.

Suggestions received so far include affixing the DiMaggio name to everything from a North Beach playground to the Golden Gate Bridge. Officials said it would take time to finalize the list of possibilities.

Correspondent Greg Lefevre, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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