Fort Myers News-Press
Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn., in an undated photo.
Fort Myers, Florida (News-Press) -- Friends and family remembered former country music star Mindy McCready Tuesday as a spunky, witty child with the voice of an angel.
Her
younger brother, Colton Skyler Phelan, fought tears as he described his
sister's ploy to get them out of chores. They practiced the (made-up)
religious holiday of "vacashon," and couldn't do any work during that
time, McCready, a North Fort Myers native, would say when she was
visiting her family in Southwest Florida.
McCready's mother,
Gayle Inge, said she will always remember her daughter as a little girl
in a car seat singing into a hairbrush. McCready always knew she wanted
to be a singer, and as a child she would charge neighbors admission to
watch her perform in the backyard.
"I'm her biggest fan," Inge said. "She is singing unto Him a new song today."
The
service at Crossroads Baptist Church on Palm Beach Boulevard in
Fort Myers lasted more than an hour as friends and family shared
countless anecdotes that showed how much fun they had with McCready. But
they did not forget the darker side of the former star, who committed suicide February 17 in Arkansas. She leaves behind two sons.
"I can't tell you all the conversations when she was so empty and so hurt," Inge said. "Our Mindy was so tired."
A
memorial service for McCready, organized by her friends and others in
the music community, has also been tentatively scheduled for March 6th
at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville.
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