‘Our family is broken.’ Beloved Texas high school coach dies of COVID, relatives say

A Texas high school teacher and coach beloved by his family and students died Tuesday of COVID-19, relatives said.

Phillip Jimenez, 49, was admitted to a San Antonio hospital Dec. 15 with COVID-19 symptoms and was later placed on a ventilator before dying Tuesday, his brother-in-law, Joe Munoz, posted on Facebook.

“Our family is broken but has faith like no other,” Munoz said.

Jimenez was a teacher and assistant football coach at Sam Houston High School in San Antonio and graduated from Texas State University in 1996, his page on the school’s website shows.

“Mr. Jimenez was a beloved member of our SAISD family who will be greatly missed,” the school district said in a statement to KENS 5.

Sam Houston’s head football coach, former NFL player Quincy Stewart, shared news of Jimenez’ death on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

“God called one of his coaches home. Coach Phil Jimenez, a true Hurricane, will be missed,” Stewart said. “We love you coach.”

The coach told the San Antonio Express-News Jimenez “was truly loved by the community and the school.”

Prior to his teaching and coaching jobs, Jimenez had careers in concert/theater management, stage management and adolescent mentoring, he wrote on the school’s website.

His sister, Debra Jimenez-Munoz, wrote on Facebook her brother “left a tremendous mark and... had such a positive impact in so many lives.”

“He was a father figure for many of the kids that perhaps didn’t even have a father or much of a home life,” she told San Antonio Express-News.

Several other members of the family have also had bouts with the coronavirus, which has infected more than 1.4 million people in Texas.

While Phillip and other family members were fighting the virus, his sister Lisa Jimenez Barajas wrote about the challenges families face dealing with COVID-19.

“This virus is a monster,” she wrote. “My heart goes out to those who are currently fighting it, to those who have fought it and have recovered and to those who fought it but did not make it through. My heart also goes out to their families who are left wondering how something like this could happen and take their loved one so quickly. One does not realize how bad this virus is and the devastation it brings until it hits your inner circle.”