Jackass Stars Pay Their Respects at Memorial Service for Ryan Dunn

Close friends and family gather to celebrate the life of their fellow merry prankster

By Josh Grossberg Jun 23, 2011 3:38 PMTags
Ryan DunnMichael Buckner/Getty Images

They came to laugh, cry, and remember the good times.

Family and close friends of Ryan Dunn gathered for a private memorial service at a West Chester, Penn., funeral home Wednesday to bid goodbye to the Jackass daredevil, who died tragically two days earlier in a fiery car crash that also killed his passenger, Zachary Hartwell.

Among those in attendance were several of his Jackass costars. Bam Margera, who called Dunn his best friend, came with his wife, Melissa, and Johnny Knoxville took the podium to offer up recollections of his fellow prankster over the years.

They were joined by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actors Glenn Howerton and Rob McElhenney and Bam's parents, Phil and April Margera, who considered Ryan almost a second son.

Per MTV, members of the Kings of Leon, who were friendly with Dunn, remembered him during their concert in London's Hyde Park Wednesday night. Singer Caleb Followill asked their audience to raise a glass to "a friend of ours who's passed away" and said, "This is for Ryan" before launching into their tune "McFearless."

According to West Goshen police, preliminary toxicology tests revealed Dunn's blood-alcohol level was 0.196, more than twice the state's legal limit, after he and Hartwell—a former production assistant on Jackass Number Two—had been drinking that evening at a local watering hole, Barnaby's of America.

Investigators recontructing the accident determined that after they left the bar, the reality star pushed his Porshe 911 GT3 close to 140 miles per hour and lost control of the vehicle, barrelling through a guardrail and smashing into a line of trees.

The collision was so violent, the county coroner was unable to determine whether Dunn and his 30-year-old companion died first from blunt force trauma or from the fire that engulfed the wreck in the moments afterward.

Authorities said they had no plans to file charges against the owners of Barnaby's. The bar's manager previously told E! News that surveillance video showed that the Proving Ground cohost—who has a long history of driving infractions including speeding—didn't appear to be drunk when they left, despite having two beers and six shots, and Barnaby's staff didn't feel at any point that Dunn should have been cut off.

Ironically, in Jackass's season-five DVD commentary, unearthed by TMZ, Margera eerily predicted Dunn's death.

"He's gonna eat it one of these times [in a car accident]," Bam said back in 2006, while his mom remarked, "He'll never learn his lesson."

Added another castmember on the MTV show: "I have [Ryan] in the death pool...for death by vehicle."

A private memorial service for Hartwell is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday at the DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith and Boyd funeral home in West Chester, where Ryan's service took place.

Dunn will reportedly be laid to rest in his home state of Ohio. The funeral home's website confirmed that a public memorial will be announced at a later date. His obituary also asks that in lieu of flowers, contributions should be sent to Garth Brooks' Teammate for Kids, a nonprofit partnering pro athletes and celebrities with charities benefiting children.