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Funeral held for Hannah Williams

Photo courtesy of the Williams family

Family and friends celebrated the life of Liberty University student Hannah Williams on Tuesday in her hometown of Sanford, N.C.

Williams, 18, was killed Thursday, Nov. 17, in an accident on a train trestle in Amherst County.

Liberty University Chancellor and President Jerry Falwell, Jr. spoke at the service. He shared how Williams, a freshman, touched many lives at Liberty in her short time there. She had already been on a mission trip with the school this semester, volunteering to help flood victims in the northeast.

Falwell read some messages he had received from her friends, who spoke of her as “strong and outgoing,” “a beautiful woman of God,” “a born leader,” and someone who “loved people with a heart that was purely of God.”

Also attending the service were Falwell’s wife, Becki; Liberty’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Mark Hine; campus pastor Dane Emerick; and several Liberty students.

Williams had planned to study government and journalism at Liberty.

Liberty students mourned the loss of their classmate the morning after the accident at a university-wide convocation where they prayed for those affected by the tragedy. Members of Liberty’s Student Government Association held a candlelight vigil Friday night on the steps of Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center.

Four other students were involved in the accident. One remains hospitalized, and three sustained minor injuries.

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