Sonny Bono Called `Most Unforgettable Character' By Cher -- Singer, Congressman Mourned By 1,200

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Wracked by sobs, Cher yesterday eulogized her ex-husband Sonny Bono as "the most unforgettable character" and told a gathering of mourners from Hollywood and Washington how the entertainer-turned-congressman beat the odds with his joking personality.

"Some people were under the misconception that Sonny was a short man, but he was heads and tails taller than anyone else, " Cher said tearfully.

"He could see above the tallest people. He had a vision of his future and just how he was going to build it," Cher told some 1,400 mourners at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church.

A large color portrait of a grinning Bono hung near his flag-draped mahogany casket. Outside, another 2,500 mourners clutched umbrellas in a light drizzle, listening to the services on a loudspeaker.

The two-term Republican congressman and former mayor of Palm Springs died Monday when he skied into a tree at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe. He was 62.

Mourners included House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a dozen congressmen, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former President Gerald Ford, California Gov. Pete Wilson, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who represented President Clinton, actor Jack Scalia and singers Tony Orlando and Jerry Vale.

In a ceremony marked by tears and laughter, Bono was remembered as a gregarious man whose accomplishments were more remarkable given his self-deprecating sense of humor.

"What people don't realize is he created Sonny and Cher," the Academy Award-winning actress said. "He had the confidence to be the butt of the joke because he created the joke."

On the career change that propelled him to Washington, Cher said, "I know someone doesn't decide in the middle of their life to become a congressman, but that's so typically Sonny."

In his eulogy, Gingrich told mourners how members of Congress had gathered before dawn in Washington for the trip west.

"It was the sort of group Sonny would have liked, a lot of people, important, early in the morning, being inconvenienced for him," Gingrich said

Gingrich said Bono never took himself seriously and never acted like a celebrity. Behind his jokes, however, was a dedicated politician who was able to disarm his critics, Gingrich said.

California Gov. Pete Wilson said Bono's candor and tenacity were his greatest gifts.

"A lot of us will remember a man who beat the odds because he refused to let the odds beat him. He refused to accept it when somebody told Sonny he couldn't do something," Wilson said.

After the funeral Mass, a cortege of several hundred cars drove to the cemetery at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City for the burial. Bono was given a 21-gun salute from a military color guard.

Bono's wife, Mary, and their children - daughter Chianna, 6, and son Chesare, 9 - then released several dozen doves into the sky.

Bono had two other children - Chastity with Cher, and Christy with his first wife, Donna Rankin.