Funeral held for victim of Kobe Bryant helicopter crash Christina Mauser exactly 3 weeks after accident
A PRIVATE funeral was held today for Christina Mauser, who died along with Kobe Bryant and seven others in a helicopter crash last month.
The passengers were on their way to a youth basketball tournament when the copter went down in the California city of Calabasas on Jan. 26.
Mauser helped Bryant coach a girls’ basketball team that also included the NBA star’s daughter Gianna. The 13-year-old Gianna was one of three children to lose their lives in the crash.
The service for the 38-year-old Mauser was held this afternoon in the gymnasium of the California high school that she attended, according to ABC 7.
Mauser, who was a mother of three, had worked full-time at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy.
“Kobe didn’t pick my wife because she was average,” Matthew Mauser told ABC News last month.
“She was exceptional.”
He added that “she loved what she did. My wife had a brilliant, brilliant eye for coaching.”
“I just want people to know how amazing my wife was,” he said during the interview.
“I want everybody to know not only about my wife, but about the other people on that helicopter that were amazing people.
“Including Gianna and KB. It was a helicopter full of incredibly talented, hardworking sweet, kind, fantastic people.”
The others lost in the crash included Sarah Chester, her daughter Payton, three members of the Altobelli family and pilot Ara Zobayan.
The basketball team coached by Bryant and Mauser also included Payton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli.
John Altobelli, wife Keri and Alyssa were honored at a public memorial earlier this week.
A memorial for Kobe and Gianna Bryant will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 24.
The date corresponds with Bryant’s No. 24 jersey and the No. 2 uniform worn by Gianna during her games.
Fans seeking to attend the memorial must register to buy tickets, the Lakers announced Friday.
Tickets will be go for as much as $224. Proceeds will benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.
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The Lakers said the memorial will not be shown on exterior video screens at the arena or the nearby L.A. Live entertainment area.
Kobe and Gianna Bryant were buried on Feb. 7 at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, California.
The cause of the tragic crash remains under investigation.
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