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Case file s1636 · Music and sport · 1983
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1983
Dennis Wilson: Dennis Wilson 1982 (portrait crop)
Dennis Wilson. Caribou records. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
28 December 1983
Place
Marina del Rey, California · United States
Field
rock (The Beach Boys) · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (California); federal burial-at-sea rules · Common law
Historical event
The Beach Boys; Reagan-era White House
Music and sportBodies, bones and burialsPostwarNorth AmericaUnited States

Dennis Wilson's estranged wife had him buried at sea with White House help, against his brother's plan to bury him beside their father

Dennis Wilson drowned at 39 while diving in the marina for objects he believed were on the bottom. His blood alcohol level was 0.26. He had lost his boat, the Harmony, had no car, and had been without a home for about a month. He was in debt, including back taxes. About a month before he died he had filed for divorce from Shawn Love, daughter of his bandmate Mike Love. The divorce was not final, so she was still his wife. She said he wanted a burial at sea. His brother Carl had planned to bury him beside their father, Murray, at Inglewood Cemetery. The family asked the Reagan White House for help. Staff contacted California officials and the Coast Guard. On 4 January 1984 the Coast Guard buried his body in the Pacific. A retired Air Force major complained to his congressman that sea burial was an honor for those who served. On 1 February 1984 the White House replied that Wilson was not a veteran, the ceremony was civil, not military, and the Coast Guard "accommodated" the request and was not "ordered" to. In 2002 his brother Brian said the burial "seemed wrong" to him.

What the law took from it

A spouse with a divorce still pending keeps the legal right to decide what happens to the body.

Sources
  1. reaganlibrary.govGovernment record
  2. au.rollingstone.comPress
  3. ca.news.yahoo.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Dennis Wilson's estranged wife had him buried at sea with White House help, against his brother's plan to bury him beside their father,” story s1636, https://www.celebrity.estate/dennis-wilson-1983, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportBodies, bones and burialsPostwarNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States