Two weeks after announcing the death of his mother from coronavirus, Mayor Robert Garcia said Monday his stepfather had also succumbed to the virus.
Greg O’Donnell, 58, had been on a ventilator for more than a month before he died.
“Greg was a kind and good-hearted man, an amazing father and grandfather, and the best husband our mom could have ever hoped for,” Garcia said in a statement Monday morning.
O’Donnell died on Sunday, the day after his wife’s memorial service. He had been married to Garcia’s mother, Gaby O’Donnell, for 27 years after she moved to the United States from Lima, Peru, with her son Robert, who was then 5.
Garcia’s brother, Jacob O’Donnell, posted a public note on Facebook that said his father would “always be my hero and my best friend.”
“My father was a great man and an amazing person,” Jacob O’Donnell wrote. “He was very humble and the strongest person I have ever known.”
Greg O’Donnell had owned a successful contracting business with his brothers, his son said.
Jacob O’Donnell said when he spoke at his mom’s funeral over weekend, he told a story about his dad asking his mom early in their dating, “Are you for real?” She was confused, the son said, “But what he meant was that mom was such a good person that my father was in disbelief that he had met someone so special and so genuinely endearing.”
“I find comfort in knowing that they are together again – free of any pain or suffering,” Jacob O’Donnell wrote. “I know they will be with me forever and are guardian angels to my son Kaiden who they both loved so dearly. I will miss them both terribly and I am nothing but grateful for everything they have done for me.”
Information for Greg O’Donnell’s services will be sent to family and friends in the days ahead, Garcia’s statement said.