Funeral Service for Brad Renfro Held in His Knoxville Hometown

Wed, 23 January 2008 02:02:15 ET

Bidding their final farewell to the actor, hundreds of mourners turned up Monday night (Jan. 21) to attend the funeral service for Brad Renfro in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennesse.

About 600 well-wishers were noted to give their condolences to the former child star's family members at the city's Stevens Mortuary. Officiating at the service was his great-uncle Michael Earl, who touched on the 25-year-old's history of drug addiction amid his focus to tell about the positive aspects of his great-nephew's life.

"Brad had problems just like I have problems, just like you have problems, just like all of us have trials and tribulations that we go through," Earl stated as reported by Knoxville News Sentinel. "He lived life, and he enjoyed it. Whatever he did, he did it hard as he could."

In the meantime, Renfro's family surprisingly revealed in an obituary placed in the Sentinel that he was survived by a young son, only referred as "Y Renfro." The thespian's father and stepmother has informed TMZ.com that the boy lives with his mother in Japan and that "The Client" star had spent time with his child prior to his tragic death.

Renfro was found dead in his home in Los Angeles last Tuesday morning (Jan. 15) after his girlfriend discovered he was not breathing in his sleep. An autopsy on the actor was performed Thursday, January 17, 2008, but official cause of death will not be announced until toxicology tests come back in about six weeks.

UPDATE 01/24/2008: Renfro was laid to rest in a burial service taking place on a quiet hill north of Knoxville in the Blaine community Tuesday, January 22, 2008. The interment, however, was delayed due to freezing rain, but managed to be carried out after two hours with 60 family members and friends attending.