SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Loved ones are remembering longtime Brandon Valley head football coach Chad Garrow who passed away on Friday after a battle with brain cancer.

“He wasn’t super extroverted, but man you got to know him and came to love him, and he’d love everybody back in all the ways they needed it,” said Matt Christensen, who is the interim football coach at Brandon Valley. “And he could tell, he could read the room and read people. He was excellent at that.”

Christensen was defensive coordinator under Garrow on the Lynx coaching staff.

“He just made sure that I always felt trusted and empowered, and if things weren’t going well he’d step in and help but otherwise he’s a master at giving people space,” Christensen said.

He says Garrow tied the Brandon community together.

“He was a glue, a unifying figure that just kind of set the bar for this is how hard we work … how much it matters, keep the priorities straight, surrounding around the kids,” Christensen said.

Christensen describes Garrow as “a servant leader.”

“We love him, and we miss him, and we’re going to try to celebrate him, too,” Christensen said.

Garrow is survived by his wife and three children.