PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Jeffrey Jacober was remembered as determined, driven and fully dedicated to his family and community. His wife, Karen, friends said, carried the worries of the world on her shoulders. And their son, Eric, was described as inquisitive, full of energy and a genius with electronics.

As mourners gathered Wednesday for the funeral of the three Rhode Islanders killed in a small plane crash in Pennsylvania last weekend, tears were interrupted by thoughtful tributes to a family committed to each other and their community.

“Let each of us hold close a favorite memory,” Rabbi Leslie Gutterman instructed the more than 1,000 mourners who attended Wednesday’s service at Temple Beth-El in Providence.

The Jacobers and three members of another Providence family were killed Saturday, when the turboprop plane Jeffrey was piloting crashed in rural Pennsylvania. The families were en route from a Florida vacation to State College to watch the Jacober’s 21-year-old son, Michael, play in a Penn State University lacrosse game.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

During the funeral, Gutterman told mourners to honor the family, known for their charitable work, by continuing their service.

“Let our good deeds be their memorial,” Gutterman said. “Nothing kept Jeffrey from being involved when he sensed a need.”

Jeffrey had recently battled prostate cancer, and was in remission, Gutterman said. He also had donated a kidney to his brother, Alan.

Gutterman said Karen was a tutor at the Wheeler School in Providence, which Eric attended through the 8th grade. When her son Michael was young, she would comfort him by calling him her “Sunshine.” The Jacobers were also survived by a 24-year-old son, David.

Once, when Eric asked his father for a car, Jeffrey told him, “If you want a car so much, you should build one,” Gutterman said. He did, building a simple purple car, with his dad’s help.

Outside the temple, family and friends swapped stories and pictures between hugs and tears. Many gripped the funeral’s program, which displayed photographs of the family and detailed their commitment to social responsibility.

Classmates of Eric’s at the private St. Andrew’s School in Barrington remembered their friend as energetic and always bringing smiles to those around him.

“He always had something good to say about everyone,” recalled Blaire Telford, 16.

The 15-year-old also had a knack with computers, classmates said, and was regularly called upon to fix school equipment.

He also liked gadgets. Eric was on the cross-country team, and always carried a GPS device, which directed him where to run, along with his iPod music player.

Among the mourners were Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty and Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who ordered the flags at City Hall lowered to half-staff today.

in memory of the six people killed in the plane crash.

Police estimated the crowd at the funeral from 1,200 to 1,500 people. Cars crowded side streets and the temple’s lobby swelled as mourners spilled over from the sanctuary.

A few hundred people later gathered at a brief graveside service, where family members placed sunflowers and fresh-cut roses on the three coffins before they were lowered into the ground.

Many of Michael Jacober’s lacrosse teammates, coaches and school officials attended the services, traveling by bus from Penn State University. Michael Jacober is a senior and co-captain on the team.

Federal investigators continue their probe into the crash, which also killed Gregg Weingeroff, 49; his wife, Dawn, 42, and their 10-year-old son, Leland. Funeral services for Gregg and Leland were scheduled for Thursday afternoon, also at Temple Beth-El. A service for Dawn was to be held at St. Sebastian’s Church in Providence on Thursday morning.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it plans to release a preliminary report by the middle of next week.

Local officials have speculated that icing might have contributed to the crash; temperatures hovered just above freezing when the plane went down. On the same day, three other small planes trying to land at the airport reported problems with icing, an unusually high number, University Park Airport director Bryan Rodgers said. The other three planes landed safely.

Jacober never mentioned mechanical problems to Federal Aviation Administration traffic controllers, a federal air safety investigator has said. In a radio communication with the airport, he asked whether his rental car had arrived at the airport yet, and that was the last the airport heard from him, Rodgers said. A witness later called, saying the plane had crashed, he said.

AP-ES-03-30-05 1804EST