RICHMOND, Va. — Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday for the funeral of a Virginia state trooper who died in the fatal crash of a helicopter that had been monitoring a violent, white nationalist protest in Charlottesville.

Family, friends, political leaders and police officers from around the country honored Lt. Jay Cullen at Southside Church of the Nazarene near Richmond.

Cullen, who was head of the state police’s aviation unit, was remembered as a safety conscious perfectionist who loved being a trooper and flying.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called Cullen, who frequently piloted the governor around the state in a police helicopter, a “silent giant.”

The funeral for the other trooper killed in the crash, Trooper-Pilot Berke Bates, was held Friday.