Selemaea was supposed to make the trip Wednesday from his home in Colorado Springs to the VA Hospital, where Apineru sometimes cooked for staff and residents. Selemaea, himself an Army veteran, was ready to grill a few selections of meat during the cook-off.

"My chicken will make you cry," Selemaea said with a laugh Wednesday. It's that good, he boasts.

Selemaea said his brother, who arrived in the U.S. from Western Samoa in 1996, will be buried here because so many family members call the Beehive State home.

As Apineru's family has been arriving in Utah from Colorado, Washington, Western Samoa, New Zealand and Australia, there has been a lot of laughing, smiling, remembering — and eating, the way Apineru would have liked it.

Apineru's late father, Isaako, taught his children it's OK to be sad and cry when someone dies, but to make sure the person's life is celebrated.

"Who wants to be sad?" Selemaea asked. "Nobody wants to be sad."

The two nephews and five nieces Apineru loved and spoiled will see their uncle one last time during a viewing Thursday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church, 203 S. 200 East, Salt Lake City.

The man whose favorite phrase was, "Big time!," whenever he got excited about something, will be buried Friday at the Utah Veteran's Memorial State Park in Riverton, after funeral, or "celebration," services at the Methodist Church at 11 a.m.

Those who wish to make a monetary donation in Apineru's name are asked to do so by visiting the Web site, www.semperfifund.org.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com