Mourners line procession route to remember Lesley and Rhyan Prather

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Loved ones and complete strangers said goodbye Friday to a Louisville firefighter and her daughter after they were killed in a crash last week.

It was a somber day at Fire Station 3 as firefighters waited to say goodbye.

"It doesn't matter. It's a family, and we represent each other," said Mike Cannady, a retired fire captain. "All across the country, there will be people here from out of town, at different fire houses, every places along the route."

Lesley Prather and her 12-year-old daughter Rhyan's funeral was Friday at Southeast Christian Church. An American flag hung in the packed church parking lot.

"We're just here to honor a fallen sister," said Kent McCauley, retired battalion chief. "She was a solid person and a good firefighter."

The Prathers were killed last Friday just outside of St. Louis on the way to a volleyball tournament along with their friends Carrie McCaw and her 12-year-old daughter Kacey.

"My wife was going through her phone that night when it first broke, and she handed it to me, and it hit be like a ton of bricks I said, 'That's our person,'" said McCauley, who worked several shifts with Prather. "Her attitude — always the first one in line to do something, smiled about it, never had a bad day, a good person."

The funeral procession traveled from Interstate 64 to Dutchmans Lane, passing the fire station onto Taylorsville Road to Calvary Cemetery where the mother and daughter were laid to rest.

"From what everybody said, she was a fantastic firefighter and just a fantastic person," Cannady said.