HUNDREDS ATTEND SONNY BONO VIGIL.

Byline: Jeff Wong Associated Press 

One woman brought her vintage Sonny and Cher dolls, while others knelt and prayed Thursday in front of the flag-draped coffin of entertainer-turned-politician Sonny Bono.

``He was such a nice man,'' said Jeannie Stone, 44, of Los Angeles, who drove with several members of her church to attend the four-hour vigil at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church on the eve of Bono's funeral. Bono, 62, died Monday in a skiing accident.

``I grew up with his music, and I've watched him grow as a person,'' she said.

Hundreds of mourners walked past the coffin. The line began building outside the church more than two hours before the vigil with people who drove up to three hours to this desert resort, 100 miles east of Los Angeles, to pay their last respects.

Some mourners kneeled and prayed in front of the mahogany casket covered with a U.S. flag. A large, color portrait of a smiling Bono stood nearby.

Donna Berry held her Sonny and Cher dolls close as she talked about how she enjoyed watching the 1970s TV variety show featuring Bono and his ex-wife Cher.

``It was her glamour, his sense of humor, the way they worked together,'' the Victorville woman said.

Reflecting Bono's charismatic reach into Hollywood and Washington, hundreds of celebrities and politicians were expected for today's funeral, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a 100-member congressional delegation, a representative of the Clinton administration and Gov. Pete Wilson.

The two-term Republican congressman died at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, where he was on vacation with his wife, Mary, and their two children. Bono plowed into a lodgepole pine on an intermediate slope, dying immediately.

Tourists and residents continued to visit a small shrine of statuettes, candles and balloons that swelled around Bono's star embedded on Palm Canyon Drive, the main street through Palm Springs.

Bono's family attended a private prayer service Wednesday night at Our Lady of Solitude Church. Among those attending were Cher, their daughter Chastity and former President Ford.

Today's nationally televised funeral will begin at 11 a.m. with an hourlong Mass, followed by at least 30 minutes of comment by three speakers, including Gingrich, said Mark Matthews, co-owner of Wiefels & Son Funeral Directors.

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Mary Bono, left, is comforted by her father, Clay Whitaker.

Associated Press

(2 -- 3) A mourner, left, views the casket of the late entertainer and Congressman Sonny Bono at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church in Palm Springs. Hundreds gathered outside the church Thursday for the vigil.

Associated Press