Beloved ‘Captain Willie’ Who Rescued Dozens During 2016 Baton Rouge Flood, Dies After Suffering Massive Heart Attack

BATON ROUGE, LA. (THECOUNT) — “Captain Willie” Matthews, Jr., the Louisiana man known for his selfless acts of compassion and daring during the 2016 flood after saving dozens, passed away Saturday afternoon.

Matthews, 67, died Saturday after suffering a massive heart attack on his way home from Bible study, reports WAFB.

According to a Facebook post by Baton Rouge Council on Aging, Matthews was sent to an ICU unit at Ochsner Medical Center on Friday following the attack.

He was in a coma, before he later died Saturday at around 1 p.m., according to officials.

In a Facebook post, Clark-Amar wrote she had just the hospital and a “beautiful angel on Earth earned his heavenly wings.” Captain Willie regularly attended events and served on the senior advisory council at BRCOA.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Geo quick facts: Baton Rouge is a city on the Mississippi River, and the capital of Louisiana. Antebellum landmarks include the castle-like Old Louisiana State Capitol, now a museum, and Magnolia Mound Plantation, with its French Creole house. LSU Rural Life Museum is a complex of refurbished buildings illustrating 18th- and 19th-century life. On the river, the USS Kidd is a retired WWII destroyer that is now a museum – wikipedia.