“Irma was a wife, mother of 4 children, cousin, sister daughter, aunt and wonderful person. She would literally do anything for anyone … no questions asked,” Debra Austin, her cousin, wrote of the GoFundMe campaign she created. “She loved her children in the classroom and died trying to protect them.”
The original goal of the campaign was $ 10,000. “100% of the proceeds will go to the Garcia family for various expenses,” Austin said.
As of Sunday afternoon, 46,400 donations totaling $ 2,593,860 had been made.
John Martinez, Irma Garcia’s nephew, also launched GoFundMe for the family of the deceased couple, which raised more than $ 500,000 and was later combined with Austin’s fundraising.
Garcia has worked as a teacher for 23 years, according to a page with her school biography. She was killed on Tuesday along with her colleague Eva Mireles and 19 children by an 18-year-old shooter. It was the deadliest school shooting in the country in nearly 10 years.
Her husband Joe died two days later of a fatal heart attack that the couple’s family attributed to a broken heart.
The couple were “high school lovers,” Martinez said in his fundraising campaign.
“I truly believe that Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life for more than 25 years was too much to bear,” Austin wrote in an update of his fundraising campaign after Joe’s death.
They leave behind four children, according to Irma Garcia’s school biography: Christian, Jose, Liliana and Alessandra.
Their children attended a liturgy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uwalde on Thursday night, according to the WFAA, a branch of CNN.
“They were church people, always ready to help, always seeing what they could do in the community – not just their children,” Father Eduardo Morales, the family’s pastor, told the WFAA. “And I hope we remember how much they donated.
His words reflect the description of the Austin couple.
“Joe and Irma were amazing people and two of the most loving parents we’ve ever known. They were so proud of all their children,” Austin said. “They are loved and missed beyond what words can explain. Thank you again from the whole family.”
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