Friends and family celebrate Jerry Springer's life with one last show

\Jerry Springer is the star of one last show today at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati.

Friends, family and hundreds of others will gather at noon to bid farewell to the former Cincinnati mayor, news anchor and tabloid TV talk show host who spent most of his life in front of a camera or a microphone. His celebration of life is expected to feature local celebrities, remembrances by friends and colleagues, and musical and video tributes.

For those unable to get a free ticket for one of the 550 seats at Memorial Hall, the proceedings will be broadcast live on the big-screen TV at Fountain Square and on jerryspringer.com.

Springer died April 27 after suffering pancreatic cancer. He was 79.

Follow along here for updates throughout the day on the celebration at Memorial Hall:

Despite 'The Jerry Springer Show,' he always was just Jerry

Even after Springer's show made him famous for thrown chairs and guests who married horses, longtime friend Jene Galvin said Springer never lost sight of who he was or where he came from.

Springer got rich from a show he considered silly, Galvin said, but he remained serious and passionate about causes he believed in.

"The overarching thing of all of it was his heart," Galvin said.

Several people who run local charities said the same. Marcia Spaeth, who leads Tender Mercies, said Springer embraced her charity and became a regular fundraiser and MC at the group's annual dinner.

"He had this need to give back," she said.

The memorial service ended a short time later when dozens of friends and musicians took the stage, guitars in hand, to sing "Blowin' in the Wind."

Louis Beck, Springer's friend and the master of ceremonies, said Springer would've loved it.

"Obviously, all of us are here because we know Jerry's loss is a huge loss," Beck said. "We will miss you."

Jerry always loved an audience, even as a kid

Springer's younger sister, Evelyn Strauch, said the family knew early on he might be a showman. As a child, she said, he would often stand on a table in the hallway of the family home and "start pontificating."

Once, when the family got stuck in a traffic jam years later, he got out of the car with his guitar, climbed onto the roof and started singing. So did everyone else.

"That was his first audience," his sister said.

She said it wasn't a shock when he got into politics, and she and her husband came to Cincinnati in the 1970s to help with the campaign. On her first day handing out campaign literature, Strauch said, she stood in the cold for hours greeting voters.

When Springer and her husband picked her up hours later, they told her they'd decided to skip campaigning and get coffee instead. It was too cold, they said.

"That was the last time I campaigned for my brother," she said.

But as his career took off and shifted from politics to TV, Strauch said everyone knew her brother had found his calling. She said his signature sign-off -- "Take care of yourself, and each other" -- summed up his beliefs about how people should treat one another.

"He was always the bright light," she said.

A familiar welcome for Jerry Springer: 'Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!'

Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney took the stage early in the program to read a proclamation declaring today "Jerry Springer Day."

But before she got to the formal address, she asked the crowd to join her in a chant that made him famous on his tabloid TV show.

"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!"

Before she spoke, Cincinnati Rabbi Sandford Kopnick, remembered Springer as a man who loved to have fun but never lost sight of what mattered most: His family and friends.

As he was dying, Kopnick said, Springer reminded him of that.

"I can't think of a better life, with better people," Springer told him.

'He never left Cincinnati behind'

Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece said the memorial service today will be challenging because it's hard to have a celebration without Springer.

"He was always full of life," she said. "He's not a doom and gloom guy."

Despite an unorthodox career in politics and media that took Springer across the country, Reece said, he never lost touch with his home and the people in it.

"No matter where you go, you love your hometown," she said. "Wherever he went, he never left Cincinnati behind."

Everyone, it seems, has a Jerry Springer story

Friends and colleagues filing into the celebration this morning stopped often on Memorial Hall's steps to talk about Springer.

Everyone had a story.

Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus, who used to babysit Springer's kids, said he told great tales about his adventures in Cincinnati and politics when he drove her home. Later, when she entered politics, she considered him a "thought leader" in the community.

Former Mayor Charlie Luken, who knew Springer for decades, said people who only knew him from his controversial TV show didn't really know him.

"I don't think people outside of Cincinnati realize what he meant to Cincinnati," Luken said.

Tim Burke, the county's former Democratic Party chairman, knew Springer as both a friend, a charismatic politician and prolific fundraiser for local candidates. Before going into the celebration this morning, Burke pulled out a note Springer had written him on hotel stationary.

"Hey Tim," it read. "I'll do another $15,000 in the fall. Keep plugging!"

Jerry Springer's favorite songs will greet guests at memorial

As the first guests arrived at Memorial Hall, organizers prepared a program that will feature some of Springer's favorite songs.

Because Springer was a longtime lover of folk music, the celebration is expected to feature live music and performances of "This Land is Your Land," "Blowin' in the Wind" and other folk classics. There also will be a video performance by Noel Paul Stookey, the "Paul" of folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.

The goal is to make the memorial the kind of party Springer would have wanted to attend. "The whole thing is intended to be a very upbeat celebration," said Jene Galvin, a family friend.

The memorial will culminate with 35 performers on stage.

Sharon Coolidge and Scott Wartman contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Live updates: Jerry Springer's memorial service in Cincinnati