By Amy Higgins
Lafayette Journal and Courier
October 25, 1995

    Longtime friends and high school buddies of Shannon Hoon found comfort in each other and in their memories of the late rock star Tuesday.  Several hundred people passed through Soller-Baker Funeral Home in Dayton to pay their last respects.  They hugged, cried and laughed through their tears about better times.

    Hoon, 28, the Lafayette native and resident who was lead singer of the rock group Blind Melon, was found dead Saturday on the group's tour bus in New Orleans.  Although final results of the autopsy have not been released, Blind Melon's band managers and a record company press release have said Hoon apparently died of an accidental drug overdose.

    Mourners on Tuesday wore red ribbons in honor of Red Ribbon Week, an alcohol and drug abuse awareness program.  A basket filled with he ribbons were placed near the entrance to the funeral home.  A sign requested that mourners wear the ribbons.  Blind Melon manager Chris Jones said he thought he ribbons were "a good idea."

    Jones said Hoon's death was shocking and devastating, especially to those closest to him.  "We've been part of his everyday life for five years," Jones said.  Members of the band are finding comfort in each other, in what Jones referred to as "the Blind Melon family."

    Traffic was backed up on Indiana 38 as fans and loved ones came to the small, normally quiet southern Tippecanoe County town.  Local police directed traffic through town and stood guard at the funeral home.  Subaru-Isuzu spokesman Ann McConnell said Dayton Town Marshal Dennis Dick was concerned about the heavy flow of traffic on Indiana 38.  Many employees leaving the plant after work travel east through Dayton.  "Based on a concert from the Dayton town marshal, we requested our associates find an alternate route between the hours of 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. to avoid traffic from he funeral of the late Shannon Hoon," McConnell said.

    Mourners at the funeral home Tuesday afternoon were mostly classmates of Hoon's from McCutcheon High School.  They reminisced about the good ol' days and carefree times of Hoon's youth.

    Melissa Mathew said she would really miss Hoon because his sense of humor and silly jokes kept everyone in stitches.

    Hoon lived an intense life said Brian Whitus, a close friend and pallbearer for the funeral.  Hoon was crazy and spontaneous, and always lots of fun.  But with that zest for fun and life went a risk of overdoing it.  Hoon had struggled with addiction to drugs and tried to undergo rehabilitation.

    Kripn Given, another high school friend, said Hoon somehow knew his fast and hard life would get the better of him.  "He knew where he was going," she said.

    Paula Swank, Hoon's cousin, agreed.  She was shocked and saddened but not altogether surprised by his sudden death.  Some others who attended the funeral felt the same way.  "It was always in the back of our minds," she said.

    Private funeral services are scheduled for today.