LAKE BUTLER, Fla. – The Lake Butler community said goodbye Friday to 80-year-old Marvin Pritchett, one of four men who died in last weekend's shooting rampage by a former employee of his trucking company.
Not just family and friends, but hundreds from all over the community filled the First Christian Church for Pritchett's funeral service. Local stores and restaurants even closed down.
The service started with Pritchett's grandchildren talking about their memories of him. One of his granddaughters said it seemed impossible for a person to have enough time to touch as many lives as her grandfather did.
"He's going to be in heaven looking over all of us, and his influence in this community is not going to die," said Union County Judge Bo Bayer.
Bayer said it's still hard for everyone to understand a tragedy like this.
"These are all good people. It's just, I feel the devil got into somebody and made the bad stuff happen because they're all good people," Bayer said.
Those who knew Pritchett (pictured, right) described him as a loving, warm-hearted person.
"Everybody in Union County is mourning, but we're going to come together, we're going to be strong and we're going to bounce back," Bayer said.
Before the start of the Union County High School football game Friday night, the team was set to hold a moment of silence. One of the many kind things Pritchett did was make it possible for the Union County's football team to take charter buses to away games.
Investigators said Pritchett's former coworker, 72-year-old Hubert Allen Jr., went on a shooting rampage last Saturday.
He killed three people and injured one other before killing himself.
Police have not released a motive.
The funerals for the two others killed, Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado and David Griffis, will be held Saturday. Both worked for Pritchett.