This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Obituaries

Coach's Death is Second Blow for Vintage High

The sudden death of a longtime coach and instructor follows the still-unexplained collision that ended the life of a varsity soccer player last week.

The unexpected death Monday night of a longtime coach and teacher is the second traumatic loss the school community has suffered in less than a month.

Water polo coach Julian Szmidt died of a heart attack Monday night, just one week after varsity soccer player , a 17-year-old Vintage senior, was taken off life support following an that is still under investigation.

According to a report in the , Szmidt started coaching swimming in 1969 and at the time of his death was the executive director of Napa Valley Water Polo as well as the girls water polo coach and an assistant swim coach at Vintage, where he also taught government classes.

Find out what's happening in Napa Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Word of his death late Monday night reached the school community on Tuesday, when many on campus were taking part in activities commemorating the tradional .

A memorial service is for Szmidt is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Vintage pool, according to the newspaper report.

Find out what's happening in Napa Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?