Hundreds turn out to honor Whitman family members killed in Florida, support surviving members

WHITMAN, Mass. — A Massachusetts community came together in a tremendous show of support for a local family devastated by tragedy.

On Friday night, just days after four family members were killed in a car crash while on vacation, neighbors, families and friends joined hearts and spirits to honor the lives lost and comfort the surviving members.

There was no official count, but at hundreds of people gathered at Whitman Elementary School on Friday night to show just how much the Fay/Smith family was loved.

“It’s a complete nightmare, it doesn’t feel real,” said Joe McGinty, a childhood friend. “It feels like a fog that hasn’t lifted.”

Heartbroken members of the community had been preparing for the vigil since the day before, where neighbors placed candles on the front steps of the Smith family’s home and children decorated the football field in anticipation of the crowd that would gather there.

“We’re here to support the family,” said McGinty. “This is an enormous tragedy that affects so many generations.”

The horrific crash took the lives of 5-year-old Scarlett Smith, 11-year-old Jaxon Smith, 41-year-old Julie Smith and 76-year-old Josephine Fay. McGinty, a friend of the Smith family, grew up with Julie, the mother of the two children killed in the crash and two other children — Shalie Smith, 10, and Skyler Smith, 5 — who were not injured in the crash.

Fay, the children’s grandmother, is survived by her husband, William Fay, 76, who was injured in the crash. Shane Smith, 43, the children’s father, was also injured in the crash and transported to an area hospital, but also survived.

The family had been on a trip to Disney World for February school vacation when the rental van they were in was rear-ended by a pickup truck.

“[Julie] was awesome,” said McGinty. “She was one of my best friends. We went to senior prom together. Total sweetheart. Salt of the earth person. And I just can’t believe she’s gone.”

Hundreds prayed and reflected in the vigil held in the same field where Jaxon played his favorite sport - soccer.

He was a really good kid, made a lot of people laugh, he was very joyous," said Elizabeth Newcomb, Jaxon’s classmate. “It’s definitely gonna be hard on Monday for school.”

Jaxon’s classmates prepared and comforted each other for a somber return to school on Monday from February vacation.

The vigil was a symbolic gesture of this tight community, sharing both in a beloved boy’s legacy and in a family’s unimaginable grief.

“We love you all, you’re in our thoughts and prayers,” said McGinty. “We’ll never forget you.”

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