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MN (AP) – Pop singer Bobby Vee was given a musical farewell at his funeral with an instrumental version of his No. 1 hit “Take Good Care of My Baby.”

Vee was remembered as an “ambassador of joy” Wednesday as hundreds of mourners gathered at St. John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville. Vee was 73 when he died last week of advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

Born Robert Velline in Fargo, North Dakota, Vee was 15 when he filled in at a Moorhead concert after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.

In 2010, former KOVC radio announcer Larry Gauper interviewed Bobby Vee just before Vee was to hold a concert in Valley City celebrating the all 1960’s class reunion. Vee talked about how he had his ticket for the Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson concert and how things changed so quickly for him after that tragic 1959 plane crash.

North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer issued the following statement on the legacy of pop singer and Fargo native Bobby Vee. Cramer represented North Dakota at his funeral at St. John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Cramer said, “Bobby Vee will always be remembered as a legendary North Dakotan. I was one of many fans from around the world who loved his music. In the 1980s, I nominated him for North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt Roughrider Award, which he received in 1999.  God granted Bobby many gifts which he shared with the world.  He was a good man whose North Dakota legacy lives on in his music.”