Darrell Sheets’ son, Brandon Sheets, paid tribute to his father in an emotional celebration of life speech.
“He was like a pillar. [He was] stellar, he was strong. He reminds me of his father so much,” Darrell’s Storage Wars costar Laura Dotson exclusively told Us Weekly of Brandon’s presence at the memorial service held at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California on Monday, June 29. “He has a lot of the same anecdotes and funny things that he does. He also says, ‘That’s the wow factor, baby,’ and when he does that it sounds just like Darrell in the room.”
Laura, who attended the event alongside husband Dan Dotson, also shared that Brandon, 42, spoke about the impact that Darrell had on him.
“He got to talk about him being a wonderful father, grandfather and friend, and how much Darrell really helped him through his life, becoming the man that he is, and the father that he is,” Laura recalled.
Brandon shares two kids with his wife, Melissa. In addition to Brandon, Darrell was father to daughter Tiffany, who has a daughter named Zoie, 22. Before his death, Darrell helped raise Zoie, who was in attendance for the memorial.
“She seems to be doing really well. She has so much support,” Laura, 58, said of Zoie. “All of Darrell’s sisters were there, [his] brothers were there, family members were there, his cousins were there and they all kind of look like him. His friends look like him.”
Darrell’s ex-wife Kimber Wuerfel, whom was with from 2011 to 2016, also attended the service. According to Laura and Dan, Wuerfel was “right up at the front” and “so accommodating” with Darrell’s family.
“Everybody was so concerned for her and her health, but she looked strong,” Laura said of Wuerfel. “She was just attending to everybody, and just full of love and stories, and saying, ‘Share, share the story of Darrell,’ and [it was] bringing her comfort I could see, so that was really, really wonderful.”
Kimber also spoke at Darrell’s celebration, recalling the good times the pair shared together.
“I did see tears and breakdowns from all of them,” Laura said of all the speeches made in honor of Darrell. “Everybody would be hugging and praying and lifting Darrell up again, and then they would start laughing at something somebody would say, so it was tears of joy and happiness, and [they were] talking about, ‘We know that Darrell is with God. We know he’s in heaven,’ and just the feeling that you know that they know that he’s there, so they can have peace.”
Earlier this year, Us confirmed that Darrell died at age 67. His death was ruled a suicide by the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona.
“We are saddened by the passing of a beloved member of our Storage Wars family, Darrell ‘The Gambler’ Sheets,” A&E said in an April statement to Us. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
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