First 2 services held for victims of Ghost Ship fire

First 2 services held for victims of Ghost Ship fire The long and painful parade of funerals and memorial services for the 36 victims of the Ghost Ship fire started Sunday with remembrances of video artist Jonathan Bernbaum and the youngest victim, 17-year-old Draven McGill. Several hundred people crowded into Tempel Beth El in Berkeley for Bernbaum’s funeral, filling the overflow rooms and spilling into the lobby. Family and friends described the 34-year-old Berkeley native and Oakland resident as “a shining star” with a razor sharp mind, a love of all things media, a penchant for arguing and a loyal friend and son who kept in touch. The outpouring of respect and admiration for those in the arts community who perished this week demonstrates that perhaps the world has learned, as Jonathan always knew, that respect is due to everyone equally. Fellow VJs — video artists who mix color, video, pictures and light, usually to accompany electronic music — praised Bernbaum for his abilities, his energy and his desire to blow people’s minds. Ed Bernbaum, Jonathan Bernbaum’s father, said his son would visit at least once a week, raiding the toilet paper supply and the refrigerator but always taking time to spend with his parents — and always leaving with an “I love you” and a hug. The cathedral on Nob Hill on Sunday also unveiled a long-planned art installation of light and moving images known as “Jacob’s Dream: A Luminous Path.”