An 18-year-old Union man who died Tuesday in an accident at a New Jersey beach was remembered by his father Wednesday as a quirky and faithful teenager who loved technology and programming.

Authorities said Levi Caverly died after a 10-foot hole he and his 17-year-old sister had dug in the sand collapsed on them.

“The family was visiting from out of town and spent the afternoon at the beach,” the Toms River Police Department said in a statement. “The teens were reportedly digging a large hole when it collapsed and trapped both of them. Emergency crews from neighboring towns also responded to the scene to assist in rescue efforts.”

Caverly graduated last year from the Mid-Coast School of Technology in Rockland, where he received a bronze medal for Mobile Robotics Technology at the SkillsUSA competition in Bangor.

Todd Caverly wrote about his son Wednesday in a Facebook post, which received an outpouring of support from family and friends.

“Levi was himself,” Todd Caverly wrote. “He was odd. He was quirky. He was not real concerned with what others thought. He knew Jesus Christ. He was involved in the worship team at church, and was the drummer in a teen/young adult worship band. He was a tech nut and loved to program.”

The elder Caverly went on to cite a passage from the Bible saying that “all our days are numbered,” “there is nothing we can do to add a single hour to our life,” and that his son knew that.

The police in Toms River, New Jersey, were assisted by 11 other agencies when they got the call late Tuesday afternoon that two teenagers were trapped in the sand. Police said Levi Caverly did not survive the sand collapse while his sister was rescued and treated on scene.