STOW, Ohio -- Hundreds of supporters line the procession route for the family of a Marine killed in Iraq.

The supporters used patriotic symbols like flags and signs to show their gratitude for northeast Ohio's fallen Marine Cpl. Joe Tomci.

The procession was so large that numerous streets had to be closed from Holy Family Catholic Church in Stow to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman.

Tomci was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, Lima Company, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He was killed by a roadside bomb earlier this month.

Tomci enlisted in the Marine Corps right after his 2003 graduation from Stow High School. His father said he loved what he was doing.

"He felt that they were really doing something worthwhile," John Tomci said.

Tomci was a pen-pal to a group of students at Fishcreek Elementary.