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Leader Of Bexar County Office Of Emergency Management Dies From COVID-19, Heart Attack

Kyle Coleman served as Bexar County's Emergency Management Coordinator before dying of COVID-19.
Bexar County
Kyle Coleman served as Bexar County's Emergency Management Coordinator before dying of COVID-19.

Updated on July 23 to reflect new information provided by Bexar County officials. 

Kyle Coleman, the Bexar County Emergency Management Coordinator and a public servant for decades, died on Tuesday of a heart attack due to complications from COVID-19, according to county officials.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff spoke about Coleman at Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, calling him a good friend and a “great, great public servant” and described Coleman’s central role in building up the county’s emergency management department. 

Coleman became coordinator of the department in 2012, but has worked for the county since 1982. The department handles the county’s response to natural disasters, including the current pandemic. Coleman was also one of the founders of the Alamo Area All-Hazards Incident Management Team, the first of its kind in the entire state. 

After his passing, Coleman’s wife asked Wolff to share this message: “It is my hope that this will bring attention to the importance of wearing masks and practicing safe distancing.”   

Coleman is the second emergency coordinator to die in South Texas of complications from the virus he was leading efforts to defeat. David Frank Prasifka, 58, died in early July in Atascosa County. Over three decades, Prasifka rose up the ranks of the Jourdanton volunteer fire department and then became the county's emergency coordinator. He is survived by his wife, four sons and five grandchildren.

Josh Peck can be reached at josh@tpr.org or on Twitter at @Joshua_Peck_.

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