It wasn't typical of a funeral. But when a grieving father asked the hundreds attending his daughter's funeral Monday night to say a cheer, his request was honored.
“Go, Tini!”
Everyone at Birmingham United Methodist Church in Milton shouted, clapped and even laughed in honor of 19-year-old Christina Devon Semeria, one of four University of Georgia students killed late last Wednesday in a devastating wreck that also left a fifth UGA student in critical condition.
Nicknamed Tini by an older brother who couldn’t quite say her name, the shortened version fit Christina’s small stature. But it couldn’t describe her huge personality.
“Tini was little but loud,” her mother, Cathy Semeria, said. “Her influence was tremendous.”
A gifted musician devoted to her faith, Christina loved horses, her dog Moose, and worshipping the Lord. But it was her gift of words that created her legacy.
A recording of a song she wrote and performed, “Be Still,” was played. The sound of her strong voice, accompanied by her nimble fingers on the acoustic guitar, silenced those at the funeral.
“So be still, my child. And know that I am God.”
The song was followed by a standing ovation.
In addition to song lyrics, Christina wrote insightful blogs, and her words were read during her funeral.
“She did it all for us,” her father Dave Semeria said. “She wrote her own epitaph.”
“She was a helper and loved to serve others,” her aunt, Wendy Crawford of Suwanee, said last week shortly after learning of her niece’s death. “She was always looking out for other people.”
Visitation began Monday at 5 p.m. at Birmingham United Methodist, with the funeral starting at 7.
The church was filled to capacity, and row after row of chairs under a tent in an outdoor courtyard were also filled. Others without a seat stood outside, listening to the service broadcast on speakers and a TV screen.
After friends and classmates shared memories of Christina, and her song titled “Cara” filled the air, her mother closed the funeral, which lasted nearly three hours.
Christina wrote “Cara” in tribute to a friend who died while still in high school. But the lyrics about “dancing with God” now apply to the songwriter as well.
“We love you, Tini,” Cathy Semeria said. “We’re going to miss you so much. But we’re so proud of you.”
Semeria's funeral came one day after 1,000 people attended the funeral for Halle Grace Scott of Dunwoody, also killed in the Wednesday night crash. A joint funeral is planned for 3 p.m. today for Kayla Leigh Canedo, 19, and Brittany Katherine Feldman, 20, at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta.
All four women, friends who first met in their dorm, were passengers in their classmate's Toyota Camry as the group headed northbound on Ga. 15, back to campus. But around 9 p.m., driver Agnes Kim crossed the center line, into the path of Chevrolet Cobalt, according to the Georgia State Patrol. A preliminary report issued last week said it appeared that Kim may have over-corrected and inadvertently crossed the center line. But the report offered no other details as to the cause.
The driver of the Cobalt was not seriously injured, but all four passengers in the Camry died. Kim survived but remained in critical condition Monday at Athens Regional Medical Center.
A special team of investigators returned to the crash site Monday morning to try to reconstruct the deadly collision.
Neither of the two cars involved was speeding, and no alcohol or drugs was found in either car, the Georgia State Patrol said Monday.
“There is no indication of any substance and no person involved had any signs of impairment, nor were there any signs of any impairing substances located at the scene or in any of the vehicles involved,” the State Patrol said in an emailed statement.
The UGA crash on April 27 happened a year and five days after the Georgia Southern University community suffered a similar tragedy. Five nursing students were killed April 22, 2015, in a fiery wreck near Savannah.
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