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Private Funeral In Ocala Held For Travolta's Son

Rogers & Cowan

John Travolta and Kelly Preston with their daughter, Ella Bleu, and son, Jett. A service for Jett is scheduled for today in Ocala.

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The Associated Press

Published: January 8, 2009

Updated: 01/08/2009 06:23 pm

OCALA - Friends and relatives of John Travolta and
his wife Kelly Preston gathered today at his central Florida
home for a memorial service to honor his 16-year-old son, Jett.

The couple lives in a sprawling $8 million home in a luxury
subdivision with its own airstrip near this small town. Jett died
at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama last week.

More than a dozen reporters and photographers gathered outside
the Jumbolair Aviation Estates subdivision hours before the
afternoon event.

A steady stream of catering trucks and florists entered the
complex today. A handful of locals also stopped by out of
curiosity or carried bouquets of flowers and handed them to guards
at the subdivision's main gate.

"I wanted to help John celebrate his son's life and not
necessarily his death," said 52-year-old Sherie Maud of Ocala, who
brought a dozen red roses.

A sign outside the Saddle Rock cafe in town, where Travolta
often stops for a western omelet, read: "Condolences to John and
Kelly."

The service for Jett was to adhere to the tenets of the actor's
faith, Scientology, and celebrate the teen's life.

Tommy Davis, spokesman for the Church of Scientology
International in Los Angeles, said Scientologist funerals or
memorial services are more like a "celebration of their life, an
acknowledgment of their life, and it's a way to wish them well in
their future life.

Davis said Scientologists believe that a person is an immortal
spiritual being, and one's spirit is reborn in another human body.

"The word reincarnation is a term often used loosely," Davis
said. "We call it 'past lives' in the sense that one is living
lifetime after lifetime."

It was unclear whether any celebrity friends were attending the
service. Travolta, an avid pilot, bought the house because of the
community airstrip and visitors can fly in and out without being
seen by paparazzi, who have staked out the area for days.

The Travoltas have spoken publicly only once since their son
died. "We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We
will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives,"
Travolta and Preston said in a statement Sunday.

Jett Travolta had a history of seizures and was found
unconscious Friday in a bathroom.

Doctors in the Bahamas performed an autopsy Monday but did not
release results. A Bahamas undertaker said the teen's death
certificate listed "seizure" as the cause of death. The body was
cremated Monday and flown to the U.S. the same night.

Earlier today, Travolta's friend and fellow Scientologist Tom
Cruise told ABC's "The View that Jett's death was "horrific."

"John just adored him, both of his children," Cruise said
haltingly. "... It's something that I don't have the words for."

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