The husband of Irma Garcia, the fourth-grade teacher who died protecting students during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, Texas, this week, has also died, the Garcia family announced on Thursday, May 26.
Ernie Zuniga of KAAB news in San Antonio, Texas first reported the death of Garcia’s husband, Joe, on Twitter.
“Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of two teachers shot and killed in Uvalde, TX on Tuesday, has reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack. Joe and Irma were high school sweethearts and married 24 years. They leave behind four children,” Zuniga’s tweet said.
His tweet:
Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of two teachers shot and killed in Uvalde, TX on Tuesday, has reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack. Joe and Irma were high school sweethearts and married 24 years. They leave behind four children. pic.twitter.com/Rlk0M2B8nR
— Ernie Zuniga (@Ernie_Zuniga) May 26, 2022
In a GoFundMe shared online by Garcia’s family, cousin Debra Garcia Austin wrote that Joe died on Thursday morning “as a result of a medical emergency.”
“I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than 30 years was too much to bear,” she wrote.
The couple had been married 24 years and left behind four children, according to Garcia’s bio on the Uvalde school district’s website.
Garcia had taught at Robb Elementary for 23 years and was previously named ‘teacher of the year’. (Ernie Zuniga, Twitter, LIB)