Yahoo Finance 'Wonderful' Tenn. Principal Dies After Collapsing During Baseball Game He Was Umpiring
LinkedIn Gerald Tidwell
A community in Tennessee is mourning the death of Gerald Tidwell, a 54-year-old middle school principal who died after collapsing at a baseball game that he was umpiring.
Tidwell died on Saturday after suffering a heart attack during a district tournament baseball game at Shelbyville Central High School, according to members of the school district.
"Our hearts are broken," Warren County Middle School in McMinnville, where Tidwell had been a principal since 2011, confirmed in statement on Sunday. "Yesterday our Principal, Mr. Gerald Tidwell, passed away after collapsing while umpiring a baseball game. Please remember our students and staff in the days to come."
The school added, "We love you Mr. Tidwell. Until we meet again...."
"North Sumner Elementary and the community are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Gerald Tidwell, principal at Warren County Middle School," Tidwell's alma mater of North Sumner Elementary in Bethpage said in a statement on Monday. "Principal Tidwell suffered a massive heart attack while umpiring a baseball game in Shelbyville."
"Our hearts go out to the Warren County School District and Warren County Middle with the loss of a wonderful administrator, coach and friend," the statement read.
Bernard Childress, the executive director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), also confirmed Tidwell's death in a separate statement.
"Unfortunately, this is true. The umpire that passed away was Gerald Tidwell. We have not been able to confirm whether he died on the field after collapsing, on the way to the hospital, or at the hospital. This has been devastating and so surreal," he told local news statement WTVF.
"These moments remind us how sacred life is and how unimportant the sporting events we oversee are in the big scheme of things," Childress continued. "Our thoughts and prayers go out the the Tidwell family. We are keeping our focus on God knowing that He will see them through this."
A spokesperson for the TSSAA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Tidwell's career in education spanned across 30 years, during which he spent 17 years as a teacher and 13 years as an administrator, according to WTVF.
He is survived by his wife, Valerie, and two sons, Jordan and Daniel.
