Community Corner

Hundreds Attend Johlonda Lindsey Funeral

Family and friends gathered Saturday to pay their respects to the Meadowcreek student who died in a car accident prom weekend.

Hundreds attended the Saturday funeral of Johlonda "FaFa" Larue Lindsey, the student who died in a car accident prom weekend.

Family, friends, and Meadowcreek faculty and classmates gathered at New Mercies Christian Church in Lilburn to pay their respects before the high school junior was finally laid to rest.

"It's kind of hard to think anything good can come from this, but she's resting in God's hands," said Jonathan DuBose, who spoke in the service and sang "Just a Prayer Away."

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Lindsey, 16, going to an after-prom party with classmates. She was ejected from the car when it hit another vehicle going in the opposite direction on Steve Reynolds Boulevard near Beaver Ruin Road in unincorporated Norcross, and four other students were also injured. She was a junior at Meadowcreek and a track star.

Saturday's service was officiated by Pastor Jesse Curney III, and those who knew her spoke of her dedication to the track team and her strong spirit.

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Alex Steele of the team gave an emotional speech to the crowd, calling Lindsey a "true leader" and saying that she always kept the team motivated by telling them to keep going.

Head Coach Anthony Crawley echoed that same trait about her, saying that she was an important part of the track family.

"She never gave up. She was tough as nails," said Crawley. "We had classic battles in practice, but when it came out to the meet, and when I needed that person, when I needed her, she was always there."

During the service's remarks from family and friends, a teammate spoke of how she met Lindsey during track bootcamp and she always made her smile on a bad day.

A classmate said Lindsey was the first person she met when she moved to Georgia, and they were basketball managers for Meadowcreek. She remembered how Lindsey's laugh was so distinct and "annoying" that it made everyone else laugh.

Many of the speakers ended their pieces along the meaning of the service, named "The Celebration of a Beautiful Life." 

At the end of Crawley's speech, he explained how she loved the relay races and that's what has happened when she died.

"All she's doing to us, everybody in here and everybody that could not come, everybody that has touched her life, all she's doing is giving us a baton and we gotta finish this race," he said.

Her classmates who didn't speak in front of the audience also remember Lindsey in a positive light.

"She had the biggest smile," said Jerandin Hernandez, a junior at Meadowcreek, to Norcross Patch.

Inamar Martinez, also a junior, said that she's shocked about the incident and how Lindsey won't be roaming the halls of Meadowcreek anymore.

Martinez recalled Monday morning at school. "When I went into a class I had with her, everybody just went in and sat down, quiet, and just stared at the desk she used to sit at."

In the service, Scripture readings of Jeremiah in the Old Testament and Corinthians of the New Testament were read, and numerous songs were sung in her memory. Lindsey's stepbrother said a few words, and her sisters read a poem they found that she had written.


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