CARLISLE — An Indiana Department of Correction officer at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility has died due to COVID-19, according to the department.
Gary Weinke, 67, died Saturday due to complications of COVID-19, according to a release from the department. He is the first state correctional officer to die of the virus.
The last day he worked at the facility was March 29, according to the release. He was an officer in the facility's Special Confinement Unit.
Officials at the facility were later notified he had symptoms of the virus and tested positive, according to the release.
He started his career at the facility in March 2007 as a stores clerk in the commissary department, according to the release. He was later assigned to a custody role at the department.
His wife, Naomi Weinke, is also a correctional officer at the facility, according to the release.
"Our condolences go out to his wife Naomi, his family, and his friends," Acting Warden Frank Littlejohn said in the release. "He was a one-of-a-kind officer who touched the lives of many of those that he worked closest with. He will be truly missed."
At least 116 staff members and 246 offenders have tested positive for COVID-19 at IDOC facilities At least three inmates at IDOC facilities have died of COVID-19.
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