A Boise Navy reservist becomes a casualty of COVID-19, dying at age 47 in hospital
A 47-year-old Navy reservist and former Ada County sheriff’s deputy died Monday while hospitalized with COVID-19-related complications, according to the U.S. Navy.
Navy Reserve Master-at-Arms 1st Class Allen Hillman, a Boise native, was assigned to the Navy Reserve Volunteer Training Unit in Boise, according to a Navy news release Thursday . He lived in Kuna and previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Commander Megan Fine, of Navy Operational Support Center in Boise.
“He was a good man and he was a very big part of our community here,” Fine told the Idaho Statesman by phone. “Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.”
Hillman began working with the Sheriff’s Office in the 1990s, according to his LinkedIn page, and he left his Ada County employment in 2019, according to Patrick Orr, a sheriff’s spokesperson.
Gary Raney, Ada County’s sheriff from 2005 until 2015, told the Statesman by phone that Hillman was as a deputy at the jail and held other related jobs.
“He was the sort of law enforcement officer we would all want,” Raney said. “He was quiet, he was calm. ... I think he was an inspiration to people around him.
“He was very well thought of, well-respected. Just a good human being and a good deputy sheriff.”
COVID-19 cases are surging in Idaho and hospital beds are again filling up, something public health officials are trying to address, and have tied to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant and the state’s sorry vaccination rate, which is below 50%.
It is unknown whether Hillman had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Associated Press reported that fewer than 30 military deaths have been connected to the virus, but there have been nearly 206,000 total cases within the military as of July 21. Since early June, the number of active COVID-19 cases among sailors has risen from less than 250 to more than 800, according to the AP.
On Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that more than 70% of military personnel have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine.
