POLK COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia coach is mourning the loss of his teen daughter after a boating accident.
Rockmart High and Middle schools in Polk County announced Sunday that coach Steve Luke’s 14-year-old daughter, Tori, died yesterday.
Steve Luke is the head softball coach at Rockmart HS and the head boys basketball coach at Rockmart MS.
Tori Luke was a student at Rockmart MS and would have been a freshman at Rockmart HS this year.
Details of the accident have not been released.
“Tori was a standout student at Rockmart Middle both athletically and academically,’ Rockmart Middle School officials wrote on Facebook. “She would have been a freshmen this year at RHS. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers along with our schools and community.”
Luke posted an emotional video tribute to his daughter on his Facebook page Sunday.
“If you didn’t know her- she was always there for everyone, never spoke bad of anyone, wore heart on her sleeve, emotional, loving, and made me better,” Luke wrote. “A Godly angel she was and now is.”
I am just at a lost! My soul, my rock, my girl, my sweet Tori. If you didn’t know her- she was always there for everyone, never spoke bad of anyone, wore heart on her sleeve, emotional, loving, and made me better. She hugged me before she left yesterday and I felt it! I felt the lightning hit yesterday in Rockmart, I spilt stain at the same time, and my phone rang- my heart dropped and I was gonna get a 3 hr drive in 1 hr. Half way I pulled over and got the news and a rainbow appeared. I just knew! We all say the same thing and think it can never happen to you, I feel everything crash in one moment. A freak accident! A godly angel she was and now is! As I rummage through her things and see quotes, notes for her biblical studies, messages about being a good friend and the word she has written down the most in her room- ALWAYS! I don’t have a clue- she touched my life like your kid should- it was a miracle for her to be here at 4 lbs and now a she is gone! Thank you for the out pouring and people at my house when I got home. I didn’t want to come home. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through this ever- I love you Tori so dang much!!! I was so proud of you not just sports but the person you became!!! Thank you Everyone!
Posted by Steve Luke on Sunday, July 26, 2020
Friends and family held a vigil for Tori Sunday night.
Cox Media Group
