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ATLANTA — Family and friends will gather on Friday for a memorial service for five people who died in a plane crash in New York.

The crash on June 30 killed Laura and Ryan Van Epps, their 12-year-old son James Ryan (JR), 10-year-old son Harrison and Laura’s father Roger Beggs. The family had been in Cooperstown, N.Y. for a baseball tournament and were heading back to Georgia when the plane crashed.

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Family friends and the youth baseball community gathered to say their goodbyes on Friday. The Van Epps were well-known in the youth sports scene, particularly for their involvement in baseball.

The Assistant Athletic Director for Atlanta Public Schools, Rendell Jackson said he used to take his son Miles to the same Cooperstown tournament.

Jackson said he hopes friends and family can remember that last Grand Slam hit by JR.

“My hope is that they can attach to that home run. That last experience for the family. Focus on that and imagine them cheering him on,” said Jackson.

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To honor the family’s memory, a new scholarship has been established to help more young athletes pursue the game they love.

A scholarship fund has also been set up in memory of JR and Harrison to support children in the North Fulton area.

Miles Jackson, a college student athlete, said the scholarship is a big deal.

“To be able to reintroduce that after the tragedy is huge.”

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the plane crash.

A preliminary crash report from the NTSB says weather may have been a factor in the plane crash that killed five members of a metro Atlanta family.

The NTSB will release a more comprehensive preliminary report within 30 days, but a final report on the cause of the crash won’t be available until up to two years later, officials said.

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12-year-old hit grand slam in baseball tournament days before he and his family died in plane crash

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