Matt Smith

A Lehigh Acres fire board commissioner passed away last week following a recent stroke.

Commissioner Matt Smith, Seat 5 on the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District’s board, died on July 14 at Hope Hospice as a result of a massive stoke he suffered earlier in the week, according to a statement released by Fire Chief Robert Dilallo.

“I am very saddened to inform you that Commissioner Smith passed away,” he said. “Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

At the district’s first budget workshop on July 11, Dilallo explained that Smith was absent because he had had a stroke and had been taken to Gulf Coast Hospital in Fort Myers. At the time, he did not know if Smith would be able to return to his duties on the fire board.

A service will be held on Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. at St. Raphael Catholic Church, at 2514 Lee Blvd.

According to Dilallo, Smith had been a fire commissioner since November 2014, following a more than 30-year career in the U.S. government.