A funeral service was held Monday morning for a well-known family of four killed in a small plane crash in Sanford on July 7.

Travis and Candace Buchanan, 35, died in the crash along with their children Aubrey, 10, and Walker, 9. The children attended Grace Christian School in Sanford, where Aubrey was going into fifth grade and Walker was going into fourth grade.

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Monday's funeral service opened with music and remarks from Rev. Eric Burmahl. Photos of the young, active family were shown before the service began. Burmahl talked about praying with the family when Buchanan Farms, their business, opened.

"I asked the lord to bless Buchanan Farms because it was going to be a blessing to our community," Burmahl said. "And it is a blessing. I must tell you I believe that God honored that prayer. Buchanan Farms became a staple in our community. The family made an impact."

The funeral was held at 10 a.m. at Shallow Well Church in Sanford. Part of the service was livestreamed on Facebook, and the post was quickly flooded with hundreds of comments from people who knew the Buchanans.

The family-owned Buchanan Farms, which raised tobacco and many other crops along with operating a produce market and logging business. In addition to farming, Candace Buchanan was a senior nuclear work management specialist at Duke Energy, according to the family's obituary.

According to the online obituary, Travis and Candace were high school sweethearts who both graduated from Lee County High School in 2007. Aubrey, their daughter, loved dancing, and "Walker’s favorite things to do were riding on his daddy’s tractors and helping on the farm."

A memorial for the family was placed at the Sanford Farmers' Market last week, where community members said the family of four made a weekly appearance. 

Records from the Federal Aviation Administration list Travis Buchanan as the owner of the Cirrus SR22T, which reported engine and communication issues on July 7 before crashing a mile from the Raleigh Executive Jetport in Sanford while on a return trip from Florida.