For a second straight day mourners gathered in Prince Edward Island to remember a young son killed in a horrific Alberta murder-suicide that left four people dead and one in hospital.
Tanner Craswell, a 22-year-old baseball player who was a student at Lethbridge College, was remembered by friends and family who gathered at Church of the Holy Redeemer in Charlottetown Friday.
Red ribbons decorated the pulpit while Christmas banners and wreaths hung around the sanctuary.
"Tanner touched the lives of so many people. The family would like each of you here today to consider yourself an honorary pallbearer for him,"' said a message written in the program for the funeral.
The back of the program featured a photo of Craswell walking towards a baseball diamond, with the words: "If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again."
A friend of Craswell said he will be remembered for his love of baseball.
"He was a great guy, always such a great team guy," Robbie Doherty told CTV Atlantic. "He had an amazing work ethic. You know he didn't just want success, he wanted to do the things that it took to be successful."
Craswell was killed along with 20-year-old Mitchell MacLean, also a baseball player from P.E.I., and their friend Tabitha Stepple when Stepple's ex-boyfriend rammed their car on a highway outside Lethbridge, then opened fire.
Derek Jensen killed all three and wounded a fourth, Shayna Conway, before turning the gun on himself.
Conway, shot several times, remains in hospital but is expected to make a full recovery.
The boys were on their way to the airport to fly home for Christmas when the violence took place.
The shooting happened just a day after Craswell's 22nd birthday.
The funeral for MacLean was held on Thursday in Winsloe, P.E.I., on the outskirts of Charlottetown.
MacLean's mother, Dianne MacLean, addressed the approximately 600 people crowded in the small United Church, reading a poem she'd written for her 20-year-old son.
The poem titled "Last Time at the Plate" described a face off with a pitcher that ends with Mitch hitting a resounding home run.
"The game is over now. You must pack up your gear. We know you'll keep playing. It's just not going to be here," MacLean said, gently supported by Mitch's father Irwin.
In the funeral program handed out at the service, Mitch's family thanked the community for the love and support shown.
"Words cannot adequately express the debt of thanks we owe to so many who have surrounded us with love and supported and comforted us in countless ways this week," said the statement.
"Your stories, your laughter, your tears, your offers to help ... have warmed our hearts and lifted our spirits."
Police say the group was out celebrating Stepple's birthday on Dec. 15 when they ran into Jensen, 21, who reportedly flew into a rage. He and Stepple had broken up several months earlier, but were still living together, though Jensen was supposed to move out the day of the shooting.
The group then ran into Jensen again, at a convenience store in Claresholm, Alta. A short time later, as they were en route to the airport, Jensen rammed their car, forcing them off the highway.
Police say he then shot Conway, who got out of the car, before firing into the vehicle. He then turned the gun on himself. MacLean managed to escape the vehicle and crawl into a ditch, where his body was found by police.
Jensen was carrying three loaded weapons at the time -- a handgun, shotgun and rifle.
Police said the slayings were the result of a "domestic violence, jilted-boyfriend motive" and said it appeared Jensen had planned the attack.
Craswell's family is not speaking publicly, but has said that the presence of so many friends is deeply comforting and appreciated.
With a report from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Dunbar
