DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050660

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN KIEHL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

IN HAMPTON ROADS, DIANA'S DEATH HAS INSPIRED TRIBUTES OF ALL KINDS

In the spare chapel, an officer in the British Royal Navy stood and paused to stave off tears, then began to read from John 14: 1-6:

``Let not your hearts be troubled,'' he intoned with a trembling voice before more than 100 Royal Navy officers and their colleagues gathered Thursday to remember Diana, Princess of Wales, who died early Sunday in Paris.

The 15-minute service, conducted by the Rev. Bernard Clarke at the POW/MIA Chapel and NATO headquarters on Norfolk Naval Base, featured prayers, readings and songs. Clarke said the purpose of the service was not to eulogize Diana but to ``give thanks for her life.''

During the service, Clarke said Diana will be remembered for ``her patronage and support to so many charities and good causes; for her care for the vulnerable, weak, disabled and those on the edges of society; for her sense of fun, humor and displays of beauty; for her endeavors to triumph over adversity; and for her willingness to talk about her own vulnerability.''

Across Hampton Roads this week, from memorial services to condolence books, people are remembering Diana and making preparations to watch her funeral Saturday morning.

At Peninsula Funeral Home in Newport News, hundreds of people have signed a book of condolences for Diana, said Dorothy Hall, a funeral director there. She said people were lined up outside the funeral home Thursday morning waiting for it to open.

``The response has been unreal,'' Hall said. The funeral home had to start a second book when the first was filled up. People have come from the Eastern Shore and Williamsburg to sign the books, which will be sent to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., she said.

Some people cry when they sign the book, Hall said, adding that people have kissed the framed portrait of Diana in the funeral home.

At least two funeral homes in South Hampton Roads also have set up books of condolence for people to sign: Maestas Funeral Home and the Pleasant Hill Chapel of Kellum Funeral Home, both in Virginia Beach.

Maestas has two books, both accompanied by small British flags and copied pictures of Diana in pink frames. Owner and director Paul B. Maestas said one of his employees suggested the tribute and that it seemed like an appropriate thing to do.

``She was one of the last great ladies in the world,'' he said. ``We like to do little things that may not mean a lot, but they mean something to us. By signing a register, people feel that they've done something.''

Some local supermarkets are also doing something out of respect for Diana: pulling from their shelves the Sept. 9 issue of the National Enquirer, featuring a front-page photo of Diana and the headline: ``Di Goes Sex-Mad.''

The two-page story inside includes grainy photos of Diana and her companion, Dodi Fayed, lounging on a beach - photos apparently taken by paparazzi.

While some local 7-Eleven stores had copies of the Enquirer displayed with the other tabloids, the Enquirer racks at Farm Fresh, Hannaford and Food Lion supermarkets were empty Thursday.

Hannaford Bros. Co. spokeswoman Sue Pierter said the store pulled the newspaper because ``it wasn't really appropriate to display it, and we heard from some customers who said it was inappropriate.''

Pierter also said that if next week's issues of the tabloids feature photos from the scene of Diana's car crash, they will not be displayed at Hannaford stores.

Food Lion released a statement Wednesday saying that it was allowing individual stores to decide how to handle the tabloids. Checks with several local stores found that they had all pulled the Enquirer. However, customers who want to buy the tabloid can still do so at the store manager's office.

The manager of a Virginia Beach Farm Fresh who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that a group of 16 local store managers decided to pull the Enquirer because ``we didn't want to offend the public.''

``There was an article in it that, had she lived, would have been in bad taste, and since she died was in really bad taste,'' he said, adding that the papers will be returned to the publisher for a refund.

Customers said pulling the tabloid was a smart move.

``Everyone is in grief that such a senseless thing had to happen,'' said Cindy Degner, 37, as she shopped at a Norfolk Farm Fresh. ``Everyone is enraged at the tabloids, so it was wise'' to pull them.

Enquirer officials declined to comment. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

TING-LI WANG\The Virginian-Pilot

Members of the British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pay their

respects Thursday to Princess Diana at a memorial service at the

POW/MIA Chapel at Norfolk Naval Base. The Rev. Bernard Clarke said

the purpose of the service was not to eulogize Diana but to ``give

thanks for her life.'' KEYWORDS: PRINCESS DIANA

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