(CNN) — The fourth grade teacherIrma Garcia, chose a few lines to include in her profile on the school’s website highlighting what she loved most: her husband, her four children, and teaching.
“I love barbecuing with my husband,” she wrote on the Robb Elementary School website, among other details regarding her family, including the accomplishments of her two sons and two daughters.
Garcia was one of 21 people killed Tuesday by the 18-year-old shooter who entered the Uvalde, Texas, school with a rifle and began shooting. Nineteen children and Garcia’s co-teacher, Eva Mireles, were also killed.
Two days following Garcia’s death, her husband, Joe, suffered a fatal heart attack, the Archdiocese of San Antonio told CNN. The couple’s family says he died of a broken heart.
“Joe and Irma Garcia were parishioners at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, and Irma was a leader in a women’s ministry there,” Jordan McMorrough, a spokesman for the archdiocese, told CNN Thursday night.
The archbishop met with Joe Garcia on Wednesday followingnoon, McMorrough said.
Irma and Joe Garcia are seen in an image taken from a GoFundMe campaign.
“Joe died of a broken heart”
A bell from GoFundMe posted by Irma Garcia’s cousin said Joe Garcia died Thursday morning “of a medical emergency.”
“Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers,” the GoFundMe post read. “I truly believe that Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life for over 25 years was too much to bear.”
Irma Garcia’s nephew wrote regarding the death of his aunt’s husband on Twitter.
“Lord God please in our family my aunt’s husband passed away this morning due to a heart attack at home he is with his wife now these two will make anyone feel loved no matter what they have they have the purest hearts. I love you so much aunt and uncle please be with me every step of the way.” the tweet said.
CNN has reached out to the Garcia family for additional comment.
These are the victims of the shooting
They were high school sweethearts
A separate GoFundMe created by John Martinez, Irma’s nephew, described the two as “high school sweethearts” who were “loved by many.”
“The money will be used for any necessary expenses for the future education of their children and for the needs of the family,” the campaign said.
The GoFundMe post, originally created following Irma Garcia’s death and later updated, called the teacher “sweet, kind, loving” and added that she died protecting her students.
“She sacrificed herself protecting the children in her classroom. She was a hero,” said that campaign.
Irma Garcia had been a teacher for at least 23 years, according to her school’s biography page. It was her fifth year co-teaching with Mireles, according to the school website.
