South Elgin boys tennis coach Bruno dies of heart attack

South Elgin High School boys tennis coach Michael Bruno died late Friday night of an apparent heart attack.

"I got a call from his brother right around midnight that Michael had a heart attack and passed away," said South Elgin principal James Edwards Saturday morning. "It's a big loss for our school."

Bruno, 38, was in his first year as the Storm's head boys tennis coach. He had previously served as an assistant coach in the program.

He was a third-year teacher at South Elgin and was coordinator of the Storm Center, the school's tutoring program. He had also been involved in several technical projects at the school, Edwards said.

"He tutored and subbed and was really instrumental in helping with our website. He was very tech savvy," Edwards said. "He designed the website and all the promo fliers for our (football stadium) lights project. He was a guy who could do so many things well. He would do anything asked of him and the kids adored him. His shoes will be hard to fill. He just did so much for the building."

Edwards said Bruno had been living in Inverness but recently moved to South Elgin. According to his Facebook page, Bruno attended Marquette University in Milwaukee. He was not married.

The school's boys tennis team, after hearing the news, withdrew from a competition at Elgin High School on Saturday.

"It's been a crazy morning," said South Elgin Athletic Director Jason Ward. "Everyone's doing all right as of now but after I got the call from Mr. Edwards, I just couldn't sleep last night. It's a big loss for us."

South Elgin physical education teacher Tim Prendergast said he was the type of person who immediately made a positive impression.

"He was just one of those guys who was super happy and positive all the time," Prendergast said. "He was doing a lot of good things in the building and the kids really liked him. I didn't know him that well but he was one of those guys that when you met him he just touched you. You just never see something like this coming."

Longtime Elgin High School tennis coach Larry DeHaan reacted with sadness Saturday during the meet held at EHS.

"It's hard," DeHaan said. "Those are things that are unexplainable. Our heart just goes out to the family. Those are the real things in life. Those are the real issues."

• Daily Herald correspondent Gregg Voss contributed to this story.