Coco Lee’s Memorial Service: Family and Friends Mourn Loss
Coco Lee (李玟) attempted to take her life on July 2 and fell into a coma before passing on July 5. Her memorial service was held yesterday at Hong Kong Funeral Home, with the attendance of family members and friends who mourned her sudden passing.
The two-hour memorial service started at 4 p.m. and was livestreamed globally. The funeral hall was decorated with Coco’s favorite pastel purple and pink flowers, and set in the center was a pink heart-shaped flower arrangement from her mother and two sisters Carol Lee (李秋林) and Nancy Lee (李思林).
Coco’s estranged husband, Bruce Rockowitz, was also in attendance with his two daughters. They quietly entered through the parking lot entrance and sat in the second row away from the Lee family. Bruce was seen wiping away his tears during the service. Attendees reported that he did not speak with Coco’s sisters during the entire service and quickly left through the back door at the end.
As the service came to an end, friends and family got up to comfort Coco’s sisters who were distraught. When a tall man gave them a hug, and the two sisters lost control of their emotions and were heard yelling through tears, “He killed my sister!” At this point, the live stream was suddenly muted and the audio only resumed after 20 minutes.
Many of Coco’s close friends gave speeches at the memorial and shared fond memories of the singer. Bowing three times in front of Coco’s photo, Jenny Tseng (甄妮) called Coco “a ray of sunshine” and praised her professionalism and ambition for her career. Jenny’s voice shook as she said, “We originally had plans to meet for dinner right now–I don’t like this method of meeting each other. My heart hurts a lot!” Jenny continued in grief, “She passed on the day of my daughter’s birthday. She played a big prank on me. From now on, should I celebrate a birthday or commemorate her passing?” Jenny hopes that they can be close confidants again in their next lives. “I hope that you are protecting your family from Heaven and your funeral will finish without any gossip. We will always love you!”
Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒) could barely speak as she was crying so hard. Since Elva was in school, she had viewed Coco as her idol. Once at the backstage of Taipei Arena, Coco gave Elva a big hug and they exchanged phone numbers. Over the years, Coco treated Elva like a little sister. Whenever Elva felt lost in life, Coco would send encouraging texts and spend a long time with her on the phone. “A few years ago, Coco kept telling me to add oil. She said I had a lot of talent and I should be back on stage.” Elva promised to continue Coco’s strong spirit and keep singing and dancing. Elva pointed upward and said, “To my forever queen, big star, goddess…be an angel up there. We’ll meet again one day.”
Coco’s sudden passing also brought grief to many old friends who broke down in tears as they had difficulty in saying goodbye.
Source: [1]
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
It’s a bit unfair of the sisters to keep pointing fingers to the guy and blaming him for the whole issue……….They had a marriage that didn’t work out, and both were free to walk their own ways………..The guy did, and it was his right, if he chose to………It’s unfortunate that Coco decided the only way out was suicide, but it was her choice and hers alone, and no one forced her to go that path……..Hope she finds peace on the other side, but we really should stop blaming someone else for another’s own choice.
I feel sorry Coco Lee felt this is the only choice she had…the pain was hurting her too much. Death was her best option ….
I am surprised her husband and daughter came to HK, they know how hated they are in HK… I did not expect they would turn up.
If he had been unfaithful, then he most likely exacerbated Coco’s condition. We can’t say the entire fault lies with him, but he was probably a factor.
He doesn’t know how hated he is in HK lol. He legit said he doesn’t know Chinese and so, can’t understand the vitriol hurled at him lol. Like, how can someone who’s been in business in China for 10+ years not know at least the basics? It seriously boggles my mind.
The way we view people in Eastern and Western society is so different. If an icon in the US dies because of unrequited love/betrayal, it slips under the radar and no one makes a splash. But if an icon in HK/China dies because of that reason, all hell is heaped on the person that “caused” this pain. But 10 years down the line, when the dust is settled, people start acknowledging that maybe the fault lies with both the parties. Or maybe that this wasn’t even something that should be blamed on anyone.
I still think he has a hand in her demise if the rumors are true and judging by what the sisters said, he’s prob the catalyst to what Coco did. However, is it the main reason? She also had cancer, a debilitating surgery, and depression. The sisters are in pain so they might say things that are biased. It’s hard to know without knowing the bigger picture.
Yes, it is hard to know the full picture. 20+yrs ago, I attempted suiicide over a failed relationship… It was the worse time of my life… I suffer from manic depression since a kid due to many abuse. And I continues to form a damaged person. THe relationship that broke really affected me to point of suiciide. A friend helped me at the time after the deed was done so I got medical help.
The guy was at fault for two timing, unfortunately it did not help I had so much else to deal with internally thus his action is like the straw that broke the camel’s back.. A pain that is beyond what I had to deal with already.
Now, looking back and now, I learn to understand myself more, love myself more and be happy with myself. But the journey to recovery is very long and requires lots of determination and hardwork. My therapy was weekly for years… lots of personal commitment.
Would I blame my ex for my action? Not so now, because I learn the problem was not just his fault. The damaged me was draining him alot and he did not know how to handle my deeper issues. Thus, he was also looking to be out of the relationship. I too had too many years of abuse by close people, I did not even know how damaged I was psychologically. It does not help, 20yrs ago, no one talk about such things. Of course, Coco’s experience is different from me. I will not judge hers. I just feel sad for her as I understand her state of mind then… There really was no light at the end of a very very deep and dark tunnel. The pain was just unbearable….and she no longer wants to be a burden to anyone and even herself.
@Hohliu thank you for your honesty and sharing your traumatic story. It helps to understand what Coco may have been battling and struggling with.
@Dramafan Thank you Dramafan.
I feel Coco Lee not having a father figure in her life must have affected from since young. Her dad dead before she was even born. But that is only my speculation. I know she is very close to her mum who loves her alot. I only just learnt she was born with an abnormality in her left leg which was not corrected properly even after surgery when she was young. She really have had a tough life but still very loved by family.
I really pray her soul can be at rest now. She no longer carry her pain into afterlife..
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m glad you are ok now. It took a lot of courage to survive something like that. You should be very proud of yourself.
Regarding Coco Lee:
1. She didn’t have a father growing up.
2. She was born with her leg issue.
3. She had cancer.
4. She suffered depression.
5. Cheating husband.
That was a lot for anyone to go through (different time periods). With all that stuff she still made a great name for herself. It showed that she was a very strong person even though she gave up on life at the end. It was very unfortunate.
We can’t blame everything on her ex-husband (I like to call him that) and his daughters, but I think that it was a straw that broke the camel’s back. It was horrible how they treated her if it was true to what the media said. It was inhumane in my opinion. I hope that they will live with this guilt for the rest of their lives.
@Hohliu I just wanted to say that you’re amazing for making it through all that and the dedication you showed to overcome it is inspiring. I know a few friends who struggle with manic depression, and it’s very very hard when the mania subsides and the depression sets in. I wish you all the best!
@Dramas4me Yes… Coco really have a lot to deal with in her life… But she has still achieved alot with her life. Lots of admiration for her. She used her life to provide happiness to many people with her skills and gifts.
@Hohliu Thank you for sharing your story and what you have gone through. Having a traumatic childhood can make it much harder to deal with rocky issues in our adult lives. We look to family as our strongest support during our darkness moments, but can feel so bleak when they are not there to help. Thank goodness your friend was there and you received medical help right away.
The journey was very long and painful, and it’s really your strong determination to live a better life that helped you recover. I’m so glad to hear you are better now and have a happy family of your own.
@jayne Thank you Jayne. Yes, a damaged family can really affect a growing child. I am glad I have the chance to build my own family that can be safe and loving for my children.
@hohliu thank you for sharing your story, and I’m so glad you are ok now. Life is hard and unfair to many. It’s hard for the person to keep going, and it’s harder for the ppl who are left behind. As someone who was blame for the death of my uncle and my grandfather, got called a murderer, and yet I was still there at their funerals, (even though I was a child and perhaps got no choice, and I had to dodge my grandma to not aggravate her the entire funeral and sometimes afterward), sometimes even if it’s hard, you would still show up at the funeral. @coralie perhaps the husband and daughters already know and fully aware of the bad press, but they still chose to appear, to show their respect, our Asian culture would ask them to do that at the very least, unless the family specifically asked them not to come. It’s sting when you are being fully blamed for someone’s death, especially at that person’s funeral (trust me i know, and then at every family gatherings), even if you know rationally, it might not entirely be your faults. And we should know the media by now, they sensationalised whatever they can to sell news. And I’m sure that he himself would already keep thinking about how all their interactions would lead to this outcome, it is just as hard for him to deal with her death as her sisters and mother.
Regarding CoCo’s hard life, having cancer is tough. The chemo really messed up your hormones and that in turn messed up with your mind. Many got affected quite greatly by cancer. Regardless, a person had chosen to go, the one left behind needs to grief, we should not pass judgement and let them grief 🙁
Anyone else finds the sister Nancy’s behavior odd? Seems she’s milking the publicity from her sister’s death.
She’s been doing interviews and smiling in them. Then she sang at some charity show. She wore red while preparing funeral arrangements. On the day of the memorial, she had on a pretty short skirt and on the day of the funeral she had a red string or hair tie on her wrist. Everything just seems off about her.
@jane626 I have not seen any pictures of her family members in red. From the funeral pictures they were all in black from mrmory. From the information I have seen or read, it appears they were a very close knit family. Also, they are grieving now, so some behaviours may seem odd. Having said that, I have only seen them all looking pretty sad and solemn. Red is not an appropriate colour for a funeral in Asian culture, however, it could have been Coco’s favourite colour and her sister wanted to honour and cherish that. Just pure speculation on my part. I have only seen them in black though.
I think that’s what a lot of people are feeling right now too. They feel something is off about the sister…