WAUSEON, Ohio – Images of 8-year-old Daniel and 7-year-old Ben flash on a church screen during a funeral service at their father's church. The boys were killed by his ex-wife in a double murder-suicide Feb. 23 in a Julington Creek Plantation home.
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office says Rashley's ex-wife, Gayle McCulloch, killed the boys and then took her own life.
In his first interview since the tragedy, Daniel Rashley told Channel 4's Jennifer Waugh their bodies were found still in pajamas.
Rashley said Daniel III had his curly hair. "Ben-Ben," as the family called him, had a smile stretching from ear to ear.
"They were unbelievable kids," Rashley said.
Photos and home video showed the boys seemingly happy as toddlers and growing into young boys.
Asked for his fondest memories of his children, Rashley was stumped.
"Every memory is as precious as the previous one," Rashley said. "(Daniel) could build ships out of Legos. I'd have to stare at it for days to figure out how they did it. He loved dogs and trains, and Ben as well. I've never met anyone who loved trains as much as Ben-Ben. He'd fall asleep in the middle of the train tracks."
The boy's paternal grandfather still struggles to understand how this happened.
"How could you do something like this to these kids?," Paul Rashley asked. "If she didn't want them, she could have shipped them up here. We would have taken care of them."
More than 100 people attended the funeral for Rashley's sons held in his hometown of Wauseon, Ohio.
"My dearest little Ben-Ben and Daniel, I need to say a few words to you today," Rashley told the mourners. "Hopefully I can use this podium as a megaphone to go straight to your heart. I need you to know you will always be loved."
Rashley said it was important for them to be side-by-side "so they would never be apart. It's obvious to anyone who knew them that they were best friends."
He said it's there under the largest oak tree in the cemetery that he hopes his boys can find some peace.
"I just want to say goodnight," he said. "I'm going to miss you. Try to be patient. I promise I will see you soon. Goodbye."