Funeral on Saturday For Northview Student Killed in ATV Accident

Funeral services for a rising Northview High School senior who was killed last week in a south Georgia accident will be held on Saturday.

Services for Abigail “Abbey” Rose Rice, 17, of Johns Creek will start at 1 p.m. Aug. 16 at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, which sits at 11045 Parsons Road in Johns Creek. The family will receive friends from noon to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15 at Crowell Brothers Peachtree Chapel Funeral Home, which is at 5051 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Peachtree Corners.

Abbey died on Friday, Aug. 8 in an accident during an “informal,” non-school sponsored volleyball team-building event in south Georgia, said Fulton County Schools spokesperson Susan Hale. Hale said Abbey was on an ATV with some members of the volleyball team when the vehicle toppled over and fatally wounded the student.

Abbey was an honor student, played on the Northview’s varsity volleyball team, participated in theatre activities and also appeared in a Verizon commercial, her obituary states.

Abbey is survived by her parents, Tim and Roxanne Rice; twin brother, Dalton; sister, Rachel; maternal grandmother, Shirley Dowd; maternal grandfather, Richard (Sherry) Martinek and by several aunts, uncles and cousins. She is preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Raymond and Ethel Rice.

“Abbey possessed an inner light that will shine through every life she touched for eternity,” her obituary reads. “We are all better people for having had Abbey in our lives.”

Residents who wish to make condolences can do so online at Crowell Brother’s website.

Additionally, a Give Forward page has been set up to help Abbey’s parents ”cover travel expenses so they can be surrounded and supported by their out-of-town family, as well as funding meals, and other costs to ease their burden.”

(Photo: Abbey Rice. Credit: Give Forward)