Virginia

Memorial Service Held for Mom, Daughter Killed in French Alps Plane Crash

Hundreds of people filled a Virginia church Wednesday to honor the lives of a mother and daughter killed last month in the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps.

Yvonne Selke, of Nokesville, Virginia, and her adult daughter, Emily Selke, were both identified as passengers on the passenger plane officials say was intentionally taken down by the co-pilot in March. 

"It's sill so unreal," said Yvonne Selke's cousin, Jo Grimsby.

About 700 people turned out for the memorial service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manassas, where Yvonne, a longtime and highly regarded employee of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., in Washington, D.C., was an active member. Emily grew up in the church.

The Selke family had requested the event to help bring closure and healing to the community, even as the search for answers as to why the pilot intentionally crashed the plane continues. 

"Heartbreak, shock, tragedy -- it's going to take the family a long time to heal," Grimsby said, as she went into the service.

Elizabeth Delalla was also Yvonne Selke's cousin. "She was my flower girl," Delalla said. "I saw her often, I saw her daughter often. It's just heartbreaking."

Yvonne Selke worked with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's satellite mapping office. A Booz Allen spokeswoman said Yvonne Selke was a "wonderful co-worker and a dedicated employee" who was with the company for nearly 23 years.

Emily Selke graduated from Woodbridge Senior High School in 2010 with honors, and three years later, graduated from the music industry program at Drexel University with honors, officials at both schools confirmed.

Emily Selke worked with Carr Workplaces in Alexandria, Virginia, as a community manager, according to her LinkedIn page.

Germanwings flight 4U 9525 was less than an hour into its route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it went into a long descent and crashed between Barcelonnette and Digne on March 24. Investigators later determined that the plane's co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally destroyed the plane — though prosecutors are still trying to figure out why.

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