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Funeral Today For Michigan Native Killed In Amtrak Train Derailment

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ/AP) - A funeral is scheduled Monday in Southfield for Rachel Jacobs, a 39-year-old educational software startup chief executive and Michigan native who died in Tuesday's Amtrak crash in Philadelphia.

The funeral is at 10 a.m. at Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, followed by burial at Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale.

Jacobs_Rachel (Twitter Image )
Rachel Jacobs (Credit/ZachLashwayTwitter)

Jacobs grew up in Huntington Woods and graduated from Berkley High School and Swarthmore College.

She earned a master's degree from Columbia Business School and was CEO of the Philadelphia-based startup ApprenNet.

She's the daughter of ex-Democratic state Sen. Gilda Jacobs, now chief executive of the Michigan League for Public Policy.

Rachel Jacobs was on her way home to Manhattan when her train crashed, killing eight and injuring at least 200. She was married, with a 2-year-old son.

More than 200 people aboard the Washington-to-New York train were injured in the wreck, which took place in a decayed industrial neighborhood not far from the Delaware River shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday. It was the nation's deadliest train accident in nearly seven years.

Award-winning AP video software architect Jim Gaines, a 48-year-old father of two, was among the dead. Also killed was Justin Zemser, a 20-year-old Naval Academy midshipman from New York City.

Amtrak carries 11.6 million passengers a year along its busy Northeast Corridor, which runs between Washington and Boston.

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report..

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