US / Dawn Brancheau Hundreds Mourn Slain SeaWorld Trainer Dawn Brancheau remembered as 'a great lady' By Marie Morris, Newser Staff Posted Mar 1, 2010 3:56 PM CST Copied Dawn Brancheau, a whale trainer at SeaWorld Adventure Park, poses while performing, Dec. 30, 2005. Brancheau was killed Wednesday; her funeral took place today in Chicago. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Julie Fletcher) Family and friends remembered SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau today as someone who died doing what she loved. "You could see it on her face every day," a family friend said as he arrived at Brancheau's funeral in Chicago. "She loved what she did." Brancheau, 40, died Wednesday when an orca pulled her into the water at SeaWorld Orlando. Said the priest who delivered the homily: "We must honor her by giving the light she has given to us." (More Dawn Brancheau stories.) Report an error