The funeral for the Mill Creek High School graduate who drowned during an Aug. 9 outing with his college cross-country team will be held Saturday, Aug. 18.

Tajay R. Hoppines, 18, of Dacula, was a 2012 graduate of Mill Creek High School and a student at Valdosta State University where he was a member of the cross-country team.

Hoppines is survived by his mother and stepfather, Michelle and Odeon Shadeed of Dacula; brother Aiden Shadeed of Dacula; sister Makayla Shadeed of Dacula; grandmother Joyce Airol of Vero Beach, Fla.; grandfather Luddy Crooks of Jamaica as well as several aunts, uncles and cousins. 

The funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. at Hebron Baptist Church. Rev. Karl Alspach will officiate. Interment will follow in Hamilton Mill Memorial Gardens.

Visitation will be held on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 from 5-8 p.m. at the funeral home.

According to an email sent to Dacula Patch by a friend of the family, a fund has been established to help with the funeral expenses. Donations to the Tajay Roshane Hoppines Memorial Fund can be made at any Wells Fargo branch in Gwinnett County.

Obituary reprinted with the permission of Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel and Gardens, 3481 Hamilton Mill Road in Buford.