Jacksonville, Florida- In the end they mourned for two, the shy boy who was born Jeffery Bryan Schley and the bold woman he became, Anna Alexandre.

The funeral, at Jacksonville Memory Gardens in Orange Park on Tuesday, honored the friend who many said became a rock for those in Jacksonville’s gay, lesbian and transgender communities.

“Two people that had one wonderful soul,” said Dan Schley, her older brother.

The one they called Anna died last Thursday after the 27-year-old’s car veered off Interstate 95 into a tree, just south of Butler Boulevard. The Florida Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash.

Before graduating from Orange Park High School, the insecure teenager entered the world of drag at a local nightclub in the late 1990s. He found acceptance there along with a best friend, China, and a “drag mother,” or mentor, Sondra Todd.

Todd said he put make-up on Jeffery for his first drag pageant.

Jeffery left town in 1998 for Las Vegas, where he began the physical transition into Anna. Although she never made a point to dwell on the negative, her friends and family said it was a lonely time for Anna.

“She really demonstrated an inner strength,” China said.

Anna dabbled in stage performing in Vegas, China said, but never really had the confidence to pursue it. She is included on Wikipedia’s list of transsexual porn stars, presumably for her Web site that features video and photos of her transformed body.

She was an entertainer, a model, a lover of fake eyelashes and blue jean skirts and “Princess” sandwiches from European Street in Riverside. She adored hats and good hair and MySpace. Many of the mourners told stories about how Anna much preferred laughs and lightheartedness to confrontation.

“She had a sweetness about her,” China said over a flower-laden casket. She had a “very natural ability to be funny, and not even know she was being funny.”

Anna returned to Jacksonville about two years ago and reunited with friends. She played in Five Points, mostly, spending time at Fuel and the Starlight Lounge. She talked about going to college and becoming a fashion photographer.

She was happy and comfortable with herself for the first time in her life, friends said.

Although he never really understood all the why’s and how’s of Anna’s transition, brother Dan said the family remained supportive.

“The one thing that helped me understand was that the same heart that was beating in Jeffery was the same heart that was beating in Anna, and we loved her the same,” Dan Schley said.

When Anna returned, her parents were relieved to have their child home safely where they could watch over her and protect her. Anna became an aunt to Dan’s children and a sister-in-law to Dan’s wife, Gena.

Daniel and Joyce Schley got used to having a daughter around. They called her Annie.