The long and painful parade of funerals and memorial services for the 36 victims of the Ghost Ship fire started Sunday with remembrances of video artist Jonathan Bernbaum and the youngest victim, 17-year-old Draven McGill.

Several hundred people crowded into Congregation Beth El in Berkeley for Bernbaum’s funeral, filling the overflow rooms and spilling into the lobby.

“It’s a really big crowd,” his mother, Diane Bernbaum, said as she stepped to the podium to remember her son.

Family and friends described the 34-year-old Berkeley native and Oakland resident as “a shining star” with a razor-sharp mind, a love of all things media and a penchant for arguing, as well as a loyal friend and son who kept in touch.

From the time he was a child, his parents said, he loved to argue and debate, trying to persuade people and questioning what he saw as injustice.

As a student journalist at Berkeley High School, his mother recalled, he wrote a story on a disabled student’s funeral that was printed on the back page. When a prominent athlete died and the story ran on Page One, he wrote an opinion piece “decrying the injustice of lauding the well known and ignoring those who nobody knew. He considered it his best high school writing and submitted it with his college application.”

Diane Bernbaum said she’s been comforted by the community’s supportive reaction to the Ghost Ship tragedy.

“The outpouring of respect and admiration for those in the arts community who perished this week demonstrates that perhaps the world has learned, as Jonathan always knew, that respect is due to everyone equally.”

Fellow VJs — video artists who mix color, video, pictures and light, usually to accompany electronic music — praised Bernbaum for his abilities, his energy and his desire to blow people’s minds.

They also praised his kindness — volunteering at smaller underground shows, caring for sick friends, fielding calls from distraught friends.

“He was the person I could call from anywhere around the world,” said Nabila Lester, a friend since high school.

Ed Bernbaum said his son would visit at least once a week, raiding the refrigerator but always taking time to spend with his parents — and always leaving with an “I love you” and a hug. On their last visit, two days before his death, he gave his father a big hug, Ed Bernbaum recalled.

“I miss him terribly and feel so sorry for the bright life that was extinguished and the terrible way he died,” he said. “His last hug will always be a great solace.”

Services were also held Sunday evening for Draven McGill. The private funeral, held at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hayward, included a performance by the Pacific Boychoir Academy, of which Draven was a member. He was also a student at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco, and a special concert in his memory was held Saturday night.

The day of remembrance began in San Francisco with the tolling of the bells at Grace Cathedral 36 times — once for each victim of the fire. The bells rang out at 12:30 p.m. and continued for about 2½ minutes.

The cathedral on Nob Hill on Sunday also unveiled a long-planned art installation of light and moving images known as “Jacob’s Dream: A Luminous Path.”

Chronicle staff writer

Evan Sernoffsky contributed

to this report.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan