‘Heaven gained another angel.’ Saginaw softball coach, teacher dies from COVID-19
Saginaw head softball coach Gerald Money died on Friday after a battle with COVID-19. He was 52.
Money, who had been with Saginaw for three years, was placed in the hospital with pneumonia on Dec. 17. He had tested positive for the coronavirus and was put on a ventilator six days later.
“You are one in a million. They don’t make them like you anymore. It was my absolute honor to get to coach with you,” Brittany Barnhill, who served as Saginaw head coach in 2018, said in a Facebook post. “You kept me laughing and talked me off the ledge a time or two. You will be so missed and will always have a special place in my heart and on the softball field.”
Born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Money moved to Texas, where he graduated from Borger High School, just north of Amarillo. He played football there before going into the Army, where he served for four years.
Following the Army, Money was a police officerr and a member of the SWAT team in Cleburne for six years.
He graduated from Tarleton State in 2014 with a dual major in economics and political science and went into coaching. He spent four years at Borger before he moved to the Metroplex.
Money was a Saginaw assistant in 2018 and was head coach the last two years. He also taught social studies.
“I was so blessed to be able to learn from this man when I could. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for coach Money,” Saginaw senior pitcher Kylei Patterson-Hall said. “He has not only shaped me into a better player, but into a better leader. He was a great man that many looked up to. Thank you for the past three years. Thank you for being my angel in the outfield. My senior season will be dedicated to you. We will love you and miss you dearly.”
Saginaw senior Abby Godwin had Money in history class. She said in a Facebook post that Money was a like father figure to her.
“Heaven gained another angel. Thank you Money for everything you ever did for me. You were my best friend and like a father to me. You touched my life in a way you will never know,” Godwin said. “You were always a shoulder I could cry on and someone I could always count on when I was in trouble or in pain. You never failed to make fun of me, but I loved it and I wouldn’t change it for the world. You will be my reason for everything I do in life. I love you so much.”
Former Saginaw softball pitcher Kayla Holubek got to know Money after coming back to Saginaw to work as an athletic trainer. Holubek is at Tarleton State, where Money graduated.
“Talking to coach Money about softball was a highlight of my day while working at Saginaw. Coach was a sarcastic man, but that meant he liked you. With coach being Tarleton alumni, we connected over sharing stories about professors and talking about how campus was back then,” Holubek said. “Cracking jokes and hearing his laugh is what I’m going to miss most about him. Thank you for being such an awesome friend towards me Money. You will forever be in my heart.”
Money is survived by his wife, Dawn, of 32 years, and two children, Kristen, 21, and Nolan, 18.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 11:03 AM.
