The family of a Montebello High School assistant football coach is reaching out to the community for financial help after the 39-year-old father of two died this week, reportedly of complications from the coronavirus.

Gabriel Arellano, who was entering his third year as receivers coach at Montebello High, died Tuesday after spending just over a week in the hospital with COVID-19, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported.

Arellano leaves behind a wife, Rena; a daughter, Lana; and a son, Nathan. The other family members all contracted the coronavirus as well but recovered, the newspaper said.

“The Montebello Oilers Football Program lost a family member today!” the team tweeted Tuesday. “Coach Gabe Arellano has passed away. We extend our deepest condolences to his family!! … You will be with us forever Coach!”

Said Montebello football coach Pete Gonzalez: “I had so much respect for him, and this was so devastating for everyone that knew him.”

Arellano also spent several years as an assistant coach at Rosemead High. He graduated from Schurr High and attended East Los Angeles College.

“A couple days after my birthday (on Dec. 15) I got a text message about him being in the hospital and (I) called one of his close friends and learned he had COVID,” Marc Paramo, the former Rosemead head coach and a family friend, told the newspaper. “His whole family had gotten it. He went to the hospital on Saturday and by Monday he was on a ventilator.”

A GoFundMe page was established by the family at www.gofundme.com/f/gabriel-arellano-and-family?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet.

“Gabriel’s number one priority was always his family and during these unprecedented time his family will need help with finances and anything they need,” the page says.

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