Christina Mauser Laid to Rest In Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — Family and friends gathered together Sunday in Huntington Beach to say goodbye to Christina Mauser, who died three weeks ago in a helicopter crash in Calabasas that also claimed the lives of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six others.

Mauser's private funeral service started at 1 p.m. inside the gym of her alma mater, Edison High School, in Huntington Beach, according to media reports.

Mauser, a mother of three and former coach at Orange County's Harbor Day School, where Gianna attended, also worked at Bryant's Mamba Academy in Newbury Park, where the group was headed in the fog when the crash occurred. Her daughter Penny also attended Harbor Day.

In addition to her three children, Mauser was survived by her husband Matthew Mauser.

He told ABC News, "I loved her. It's as simple as that. I loved my wife with everything I had."

Mauser also said his wife flew in the helicopter multiple times and would always get nervous when she did. When she didn't respond to his calls on Jan. 26, Mauser said he knew something was wrong. Someone also called him that day to see if Christina was all right because he had heard that Kobe had been killed.

"I just hit the floor," Mauser said. "She just adored the girls. She adored them all. She treated them like her own. She loved what she did."

—City News Service

See also: Christina Mauser: Basketball Coach, Wife, Mother Remembered