The oldest brother of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Donald Reed Herring, has died from the coronavirus, the senator said Thursday.

The former Democratic presidential candidate said her brother died Tuesday evening. He spent his career in the military after joining the U.S. Air Force at the age of 19 and was "charming and funny, a natural leader," Warren tweeted.

“I’m grateful to the nurses and frontline staff who took care of him, but it’s hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say ‘I love you’ one more time—and no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close. I’ll miss you dearly my brother," she said.

The Boston Globe reported that Reed, 86, died in Norman, Oklahoma, about three weeks after testing positive for the virus.

Herring flew B-47 and B-52 bombers for the Air Force, and flew 288 combat missions in Vietnam, the newspaper reported. He served as a B-52 squadron pilot and a squadron aircraft commander before retiring in 1973 as a lieutenant colonel.

“What made him extra special was his smile—quick and crooked, it always seemed to generate its own light, one that lit up everyone around him,” Warren said.

Share:
More In Culture
Dolly Parton Just Set Three New Guinness World Records
Country music star Dolly Parton just set three new Guinness World Records, including longest span of No. 1 hits on US Top Country Albums chart for a female artist, most top 10 entries on the US Top Country Albums chart for a female artist, and most studio albums released by a female country singer.
‘That '70s Show’ Actor Danny Masterson Convicted of 2 Counts of Rape
“That '70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Load More