The two teenagers killed in a one-car crash in Woodstock last week will have their visitations and funerals together, family members and friends have announced.
The families of Gabriel Escandon, 17, a Pope High School senior, and Esteban David Cortes, 18, who attended Etowah High School, will hold a joint visitation on Thursday and Friday from 4-9 p.m. each day at Poole Funeral Home (1970 Eagle Drive Woodstock).
There also will be closed casket viewings at the same venue Thursday and Friday.
A joint funeral service for the two boys—who were varsity soccer players at their respective schools—will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Mt. Paran Church of God (2055 Mt. Paran Road NW, Atlanta).
“The families believed that the boys lived life together and should be laid to rest together,” states a message on a remembrance page for Escandon.
GoFundMe fundraisers have been set up for both (here and here) by the “East Cobb Soccer Community.”
Fundraisers also are ongoing for survivors of the crash, including Lassiter soccer player Chris Peixoto.
They were passengers in a Mazda that crashed into a tree in a median on Towne Lake Parkway last Tuesday.
It was the 18th birthday for Cortes, who died at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said Escandon died at the scene.
“Gabriel always encouraged us to seize the moment and embrace life’s adventures,” the fundraiser organizers said.
“And to those who knew Gabriel and his larger than life personality, his spirit remains, watching over his parents, his brothers, and his extended family. On the pitch, he will forever be the 12th man, supporting and encouraging his teammates. In the classroom, amongst his peers and with family, he had the power to illuminate the darkest corners of a room. He understood the meaning of brotherhood. His love of life was felt in everything did.”
The friends of the victims also have set up a website, pray4pkwy.org, where 100 percent of sales of “For His Glory” wristbands and t-shirts will go the families of Escandon and Cortes and to set up scholarships in their memories.
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