ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The community gathered at Kings Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta Tuesday evening for a prayer vigil to honor the lives of a former teacher and three of his family members killed in a horrific boat crash in Chatham County over Memorial Day weekend.
Chris Leffler, 51, taught history at the school for five years. He also coached football and helped to start the school's wrestling team.
Chris and his family were on the Wilmington River in Chatham County when another boat collided with them. His wife Lori, 50, and their sons Nate, 17, and Zach, 23, were all killed in the crash, along with a fifth boater. The Leffler's daughter Katie was the only family member to survive the crash. The Leffler family had recently moved from Alpharetta to Savannah, where Chris taught at Calvary Day School.
The prayer vigil was emotional and somber for the Alpharetta community.
"The message was we knew our kids were hurting, we knew our families were hurting, we knew our staff... everybody was heartbroken from the news of this weekend," Head of King's Ridge Christian School Edward Spurka said. "We need to pull people together. In the Christian community, we take on things together, we're stronger together and I think the purpose here tonight was to pull this whole community together in prayer, to love and comfort one another."
Spurka described the Leffler family as a pillar of the community. He said Chris was always the first to work and the last to leave.
"They were just engaged in everything in this community," he said. "They loved the school, they loved our kids."
Calvary Day School has set up a memorial fund for the Leffler family. The funds will go directly toward helping Katie through this heartbreaking tragedy.
A 45-year-old Savannah resident has been arrested and charged with boating under the influence in connection to the boat crash. Georgia's Department of Natural Resources is still investigating what caused the crash.