Tribute to Evel Knievel planned

HELENA – The final tribute to Evel Knievel will begin next week with a fireworks show in his hometown of Butte and end with a funeral officiated by the Rev. Robert Schuller, the family of the motorcycle stuntman said Tuesday.

The fireworks show Sunday night will be followed by a public viewing the next morning at the Butte Civic Center. The funeral will begin 11 a.m. Monday, also at the Civic Center.

“We’re throwing a funeral,” son Kelly Knievel said Tuesday in a phone interview from Las Vegas. “It’s Evel Knievel.”

Knievel died Friday at the age of 69. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis.

Officials expect mourners will pack the Civic Center, Butte’s largest indoor venue, which can hold some 10,000 people.

Schuller, known widely for his “Hour of Power” religious programming on television, is the founding pastor at California’s Crystal Cathedral and baptized Knievel last April. Crystal Cathedral spokesman Mike Nason confirmed the 81-year-old Schuller will attend.

Kelly Knievel said the funeral will also include speakers representing his father’s family, friends, fans and hometown.

“There will be people he was close to,” he said, adding he hopes mourners “come away with a good feeling for a good man.”

After the service, Knievel’s body will be driven along Evel Knievel Way, a six-mile loop in Butte – a small, mining community in southwestern Montana. A private burial is planned.

Knievel was specific about the kind of funeral he wanted and “a lot of this will be his signature,” said Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce executive Marko Lucich, who knew Knievel and has been active in promoting the city’s annual Evel Knievel Days festival.

Lucich said the funeral will draw “a little bit of everything. You’ll see people in suits. Others will be in motorcycle apparel. Whatever people choose will be appropriate.”