Funeral Saturday for coach, 28, who died after heart attack

NORCROSS, Ga — Friends and family came together Saturday morning to remember a Meadowcreek High School coach who died of a heart attack last week.

Bond Crosby’s funeral was held Saturday at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Northwest Atlanta.

The 28-year-old baseball coach and teacher died last Thursday, a week after he collapsed during a softball game.

Last week Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh spoke with one of Crosby's best friends about the tragic and sudden death.

"What people talk about is how fast Bond's life went or what a shock it is.  (That's) not what we can take from it. It's not how his life ended. It's how he lived his life," said Crosby’s best friend Dustin Afman.

Afman said Crosby was an inspiration to his students.

"They didn't just lose a teacher or a coach. They lost a father figure. That’s something some of these kids didn't have,” Afman said.

Afman says he and Crosby were college fraternity brothers, who later coached together at Meadowcreek High School. Afman says he convinced the school to hire Crosby in 2011 and Crosby was a hit.

"Within a year, he was the head baseball coach over there and he never looked back,” Afman said. "He loved his job. There was no clocking in, clocking out."

Afman also loved sports. He was doing what he loved last Thursday, playing softball with his friends.

"He was playing first and I was right next to him at second and he, he just dropped,” Afman said. "They found out that two of his arteries were 100 percent blocked and the other two were 90 percent."

Crosby died a week later. Afman says no one saw it coming.

The loss of a coach who cared more about his kids than wins and loses, Afman says what he leaves behind is far greater than their pain.

"It was a gift from God to help us shape our lives is how I look at Bond being in our lives and being in those kids' lives."

The community hopes to name the Meadowcreek baseball field after Bond in his honor.

WSBTV