Boys killed in Lanier boat crash laid to rest

SUWANEE, Ga. — Two boys killed in a boat crash on Lake Lanier were laid to rest Tuesday.

Hundreds of mourners said their final goodbyes to the Prince brothers at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Suwanee around noon.

"It's difficult to lose young people when they haven't had the opportunity to fulfill their potential in life," Bishop Andy Glat said.

Nine-year-old Jake and 13-year-old Griffin Prince died in a boat crash June 18. Hall County authorities believe Paul Bennett, 44, was drunk when his boat crashed into that of the Prince family. The boys' older brother, Ryan, pulled Jake from the water, but it took rescue crews nine days of deep water dives to recover Griffin's body.

"Definitely, it's going to be hard, and Michael and Tara and Ryan know it's going to be hard, and they're not going to be left alone," family friend Jennifer Leifson said of the surviving Prince relatives.

Friends who eulogized the boys remembered Jake as larger than life, funny and clever, and his brother was described as shy, quiet and sweet.

At the service, the boys' uncle, Wes Edwards, a Suwanee police officer who remained alongside first responders every second they search for Griffin, prayed for comfort and healing.

Church leaders said the Prince family's loss has had a profound effect on their entire community.

"People in the community as a whole are trying to be good, are trying to be better. They're trying to love one another," Glat said.

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WSBTV