Mixed in with the penguins, butterflies and leopards were peals of laughter and some tears at the funeral services this afternoon for noted artist Peggy Chun.

Friends and family came to pay tribute to the artist at Kawaiha'o Church during an hour-long service that included fond remembrances, laughter, hula and live music.

Chun died Nov. 19 at age 62, of Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"Peggy Chun was one of the most joyful people I've ever met," said Fortuna Harai, who wore butterfly wings on her back and bobbling antenna on her head in honor of Chun's fun-loving spirit.

"She would have loved this," said Maile Ka'ai-Cockett, who said Chun was her mentor. "She was always irreverent and always fun."

That was the common theme today, how much fun Chun would make everything. Two weeks before her death, she took a ride on the SuperFerry to Maui dressed in a penguin suit, said Tiare Finney, a friend.

"During the last five days of her life, we had Thanksgiving, Christmas and 12 hours later we had New Year's," said Finney. "All the celebrations. But we didn't make it to Easter or else we'd have to put that bunny suit on her."

Even after paralysis prevented her from hold a paint brush, she continued to paint with a brush between her teeth. When even that was impossible, she painted using a computer that read her eye movements.

Chun was born Mary Margaret Richard in Lawton, Okla. The disease took her mother and twin sister, said her brother Peter Richard. She moved to Hawai'i in 1969 and first became known for her hand-crafted Hawaiian-themed Christmas ornaments. She started painting after her sister, Bobbie, died in 1987.