OCALA, Fla. • This small central Florida town is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Maybe that’s why actor John Travolta moved his family here.

The town square features a fondue restaurant, the social scene revolves around ranchers’ soirees, and horse riding is one of the main pastimes. Mobile-home parks, peanut farms and moss-covered oak trees dot the landscape. There is little pretension or glitz.

Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, seem to fit in: They appeared on the cover of this month’s Ocala Style magazine with big smiles, wearing jeans and sweaters.

Now, with the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, this is where they have come to grieve.

On Monday night – four days after Jett was found unconscious in the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas – Travolta and Preston flew back to Ocala.

The city is welcoming them quietly and respectfully.

Mayor Randy Ewers said the city sent the Travolta family condolences and would give them space and privacy.

“They’re fantastic people, really family oriented,” Ewers said. “We want to respect their privacy as much as possible.”

Doctors in the Bahamas performed an autopsy on Jett on Monday but did not release results. A Bahamas undertaker said the teen’s death certificate had “seizure” as the cause of death. The teen had a history of seizures; his body was cremated Monday and flown to the U.S. the same night.

A memorial service for Jett will be held today for family and close friends in Ocala, his publicist said.

Travolta and Preston, who have been together since 1991, bought their unusual $8 million property in Ocala in 2003. Travolta, an avid pilot, was looking for a home where he could fly his many planes, including a Boeing 707 airliner, right to his front door.

The estate, in a subdivision that boasts the largest private residential runway in the country, was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest in 2004.

“We’ve got a big pool, a slide and a golf course,” Preston told Architectural Digest.

“We’re a family who likes to play a lot.”

Associated Press Writer Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami contributed to this report.

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