JASPER COUNTY, Texas — A community is mourning the loss of a Southeast Texas deputy after a battle with lung disease.
Jasper County Chief Deputy Glenn Blank died after after complications from his lung disease almost three years following a double lung transplant.
He was only 38 years old when he died on Monday.
Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman said the loss of Blank is being felt throughout the department and he'll be missed.
"We're a small department, and we get close. Families get close, and we get close as a family and we try to keep the unity whole as a family," Sheriff Newman said. "And we just lost a member of our family."
He said Blank was his right-hand man.
"Chief deputy is important for the sheriff."
Sheriff Newman said Blank went above and beyond, doing even more than he was required to do. Blank was first hired as a jailer, then went to academy before being hired on as a deputy.
Blank was later promoted to chief deputy for Jasper in 2017.
The visitation for Blank's family is set for Thursday from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. at Shultz Funeral home in Jasper. The funeral will be on Friday at 10 a.m. at Hillcrest Baptist Church, located at 3196 US Hwy. 190 West in Jasper.
