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PLEASANT GARDEN — In the traditional Marine roll call at a soldier’s funeral, an officer called out the names of Marines in the church congregation Tuesday. Each one present answered.

“Lance Corporal Levy?” the marine yelled.

He didn’t get a reply. “Lance Corporal Christopher Levy?” “Lance Corporal Christopher P. Levy?” Still no answer. Levy’s flag-draped casket sat in the church sanctuary below his boots, which held a rifle with a helmet on top.

He was heralded as a true warrior, a best friend and a generous big brother at his funeral Tuesday . The service was laced with Native American tributes and full military honors, as his family and friends paid homage to the fallen soldier, his heritage and his short career.

Lance Cpl. Christopher Phoenix Jacob Levy died Dec. 10 in a military hospital in Germany after being shot in the head a few days earlier in Afghanistan. He was 21.

Eric Locklear of the Lumbee Tribal Council told the congregation at Pleasant Garden Baptist Church that Lumbee warriors, as was Levy, are dedicated to the survival of their people and homeland, even dying for the sake of the country.

“But the death of the Lumbee warrior is but another step in advancement of life,” he said.

“It is understood that the warrior spirit lives on eternally. So the Lumbee warriors do not fear death, but rather regard it as the ultimate sacrifice for their own and our people’s continued survival.”

Levy’s parents, Amanda Sheek and Chris A. Levy, honored their son’s wishes to be an organ donor, “allowing his life and energy to rise as a phoenix from the ashes to bring healing and remove pain from other suffering lives,” Locklear said.

His spirit will continue to exist on Earth, he said.

Levy, called Jacob by his family and closest friends, was a dancer in his Lumbee tribe and cross country runner and wrestler at Eastern Randolph High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps before graduating in 2009. He was fatally injured in Afghanistan while serving his second tour, for which he volunteered.

Younger brother Payne Sheek portrayed Levy as a loving, funny guy who would do anything ever asked of him.

“My brother taught me how to dance,” he told the crowd. “My brother taught me to stand up for what I would believe in, even if I were standing alone.”

He taught him right from wrong and how to learn from mistakes. They joked around, too.

Payne recalled an episode when his brother returned from his first tour in Afghanistan. The teen knew better than to wake a sleeping Marine, but he did it anyway.

“I walked in the room, shook his arm, kneeled down and told him to wake up,” Payne recalled. “He punched me in my chest and knocked the breath out of me.”

The crowd laughed.

Now Jacob is in a place where there is no war or battle, Payne said.

“The way that I look at it, everybody that passes through the gates of heaven, there’s always two Marines standing right beside that gate, every day and every night,” he said. “I’m proud to say that my brother is now one of the Marines standing at the gate.”

Chris A. Levy said Jacob was a much better person than he was at Jacob’s young age. He thanked the hundreds in the sanctuary for helping to raise him. He also thanked the Marine Corps, the church and the Patriot Guard Riders — a motorcycle club that honors fallen soldiers — for supporting the family.

Some people who didn’t attend the service lined the route from the church to Gilmore Memorial Park in Julian, waving American flags.

Construction workers stopped their project and held hard hats over their hearts. Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters blocked the roads, cupping their chests with their hands.

The marquee in front of the Climax Fire Department on N.C. 62 read “God Bless Lance Corporal Levy and Family.”

At the burial site, dozens of Patriot Guard Riders and Marines encircled the mourners.

As Lumbee tribe members beat a drum and sang a Native American song, Levy’s relatives put flowers on his casket and said their goodbyes.

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com