Going home ceremony held for five members of Marietta church

MARIETTA, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -

Members of a Marietta Brazilian church held a going home ceremony for five members killed in a crash along I-75 in late January. A total of 11 people died in that accident.

Five hearses and five caskets arrived one-by-one at the First United Methodist Church of Marietta. The larger church hosted friends and family to say goodbye to members of the International Church of the Restoration.

"It's very hard for everybody," said friend Rinaludo Rodriguez.

Jose Carmo was a pastor at the church. He, his wife Adriana, and daughter Leticia died in the crash in Gainesville. Jose's brother Edson and his girlfriend Rose were also killed. 

They were riding in a van on their way back home from a church conference in Orlando, FL when they crashed. Poor visibility because of smoke and fog played a major role in the crash.

"He was a faith guy, from a faith family. I wanted to pay my respect for a good man," said Rodriguez.

Several of Leticia's classmates from Sprayberry high school came to pay their respects.

"She sat in my lunch and she was really sweet and nice. It just doesn't seem real that something like that would happen to her," said Jeremy Bernal.

Leticia's younger sister, Lidiane is the only survivor from the van. She's still in an Orlando hospital, unable to attend the service for her family.

While friends say goodbye to too many members of their congregation, they are still praying for strength for Lidiane.

"I just pray. It's the only thing you can do is just pray and God will take care of the rest," said Rodriguez.

The bodies will be flown to Brazil on Tuesday. The family will be buried on Wednesday.

Copyright 2012 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation).  All rights reserved.

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Going home ceremony held for five members of Marietta church