Enrico Aquino Garcia Jr.

Enrico Aquino Garcia Jr., 44, Terre Haute, died Sunday afternoon at St. Vincent Clay Hospital in Brazil.

He died Sunday afternoon of a sudden heart attack while training with Task Force 7 -- a multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary response team involving resources (fire/rescue, law enforcement, hazardous materials, health departments, EMS,) from eight Indiana counties.

Garcia was currently serving with Indiana Homeland Security as an Emergency Responder for Hazardous Materials /WMD/Counter-Terrorism Response. His primary duties were to assist local emergency response agencies including law enforcement, fire/rescue, Hazmat teams, etceteras, in mitigating incidents involving hazardous chemicals, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorist events by interfacing with local incident command and providing technical guidance or state resources. He had been a public safety professional for more than 21 years with backgrounds in fire/rescue, law enforcement, emergency medical service, emergency management, and Hazmat.

He was also a Special Deputy with the Vigo County, Putnam County, and Sullivan County Sheriff's Departments in Indiana as well as a Deputy Marshal in the town of Roachdale, and had served for seven years as a firefighter/EMT with the Terre Haute Fire Department. He was previously an adjunct instructor at Indiana State University and IVY Tech State College

Survivors include his wife, Elise Hunter Garcia; sons, Joshua, Jacob and Jonah; father Dr. Enrico Garcia and step-mother Dr. Evelyn Santos Garcia; brothers Reggie Garcia, Brian Garcia, and Gregory Garcia; sisters Dr. Elizabeth Garcia-Gray, Marissa Garcia, Anna Christine Navarette, Guia Garcia, Mary Jo Durbin, and Lisa Garcia-Reger.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Josephine Aquine-Benzon Garcia; and all of his grandparents.

Funeral services are 11 a.m. Saturday at Maryland Community Church, Terre Haute, with Jack Fox officiating. Burial is in Highland Lawn Cemetery.

Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday at the church.

DeBaun Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Enrico Garcia Jr. Memorial Fund, in care of any First Financial Bank.