The Associated Press

WARREN, Ohio – With large pots of white calla lilies flanking his open black coffin, Korey Stringer was remembered as a fun-loving, generous man who ”never forgot anyone.

Tuesday, August 07, 2001

WARREN, Ohio – With large pots of white calla lilies flanking his open black coffin, Korey Stringer was remembered as a fun-loving, generous man who ”never forgot anyone.”

About 1,300 people packed the First Assembly of God church Monday for the two-hour funeral of the Minnesota Vikings’ lineman who died of heatstroke last week.

The crowd was so large that a spillover group of about 300 more had to watch the service on closed-circuit TV in an adjoining gym, while hundreds more gathered outside.

That’s how much folks in Stringer’s hometown in northeast Ohio loved him. The 6-foot-4, 335-pound offensive tackle was later buried there in his purple No. 77 Vikings jersey.

”He’d be shocked by all the people here today,” Vikings teammate Cris Carter said after the service, which was closed to reporters. ”He thought he was just a normal person.”

Carter joined Stringer’s wife, Kelci, at the funeral along with Vikings, including Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss and coach Dennis Green; plus former Ohio State teammates Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans and Orlando Pace of the St. Louis Rams.