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Family says goodbye to Kenner native killed in Bahamas helicopter crash

Funeral Mass for Jillian Clark will be held at St. Ann Church & Shrine in Metairie and interment will follow at All Saints Mausoleum in Metairie Cemetery.

METAIRIE, La. — Family and friends will say goodbye Tuesday to Jillian Clark, one of seven people killed in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas earlier this month.

Funeral Mass for Clark will be held at St. Ann Church & Shrine in Metairie and interment will follow at All Saints Mausoleum in Metairie Cemetery.

"In everybody’s life there is a light that makes them want to be a better person, to achieve more, and to love more deeply. For all the people that knew Jillian, she was that light," the obituary for Clark said.

Memorials in honor of Jillian Clark may be made to St. Michael Special School. 

The Kenner native and graduate of Mount Carmel Academy and Louisiana State University died on July 5 when a helicopter crashed in the waters off Grand Cay shortly after takeoff in Fort Lauderdale.

Those killed included West Virginia coal magnate Chris Cline, his 22-year-old daughter Kameron, and three of her close friends: Brittney Layne Searson, Jillian Clark, and Delaney Wykle. The other two victims were identified as David Jude and Geoffrey Painter.

F. King Alexander, Louisiana State University's president, issued a statement of condolence to all the crash victims and their families.

"The LSU community is mourning the loss of three recent graduates, along with all of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident. Kameron, Jillian and Brittney were all May 2019 graduates and had such bright futures ahead of them," Alexander said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but authorities say they did not believe a distress call was made.

RELATED: NTSB takes over investigation of deadly Bahamas helicopter crash

RELATED: Remembering the Bahamas helicopter crash victims

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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