NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The brother of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has become the second person in Tennessee to die as a result of COVID-19, according to Flanagan.

Flanagan announced the death of her brother Ron Golden, a “tough-as-nails Marine,” in a public post on her Instagram page late Sunday night.

She wrote, “To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband.”

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Almost exactly two months after we buried our dad, my brother Ron passed away on Saturday. To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband. Ron was a tough-as-nails Marine who was a big teddy bear on the inside. He never left my dad’s side during his final weeks and took care of everyone else in the way only he could. His politics didn’t match mine AT ALL (and we joked about it constantly) but Ron was a very good man who had an amazing capacity to love. I miss him dearly. Several weeks ago, Ron was diagnosed with cancer. His immune system was compromised and he contracted COVID-19. He was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #StayHome If you feel fine, that’s great. But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public. COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you. #StayHomeMN

A post shared by Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) on

Flanagan said her brother died Saturday, several weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

“His immune system was compromised and he contracted COVID-19,” she wrote. “He was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #StayHome.”

Following Golden’s death, Flanagan urged people to practice ‘social distancing.’

“If you feel fine, that’s great,” she said. “But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public.”

Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed the second person to die in Tennessee from the coronavirus passed away at their hospital and said the person lived in a county adjacent to Davidson County. Flanagan has not said which county her brother lived in.

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