Ump dies of heart attack in Texas

An umpire died after suffering a heart attack during a girls' high school game in Aldine, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported Saturday.

Sixty-year-old Ricky Scearce Jr., of Katy, Texas, collapsed while working as the first-base umpire during Friday's game between Cinco Ranch and MacArthur high schools.

His daughter, Carla Holycross said he died doing what he loved.

"For him there was probably no better way to have departed. He was out there being part of the game he loved," she said.

Scearce was taken to Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital after the collapse. Holycross said she thought he had died immediately from a heart attack, but the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science was conducting an autopsy.

"Athletics was his love," Holycross added. "He enjoyed reaching out to kids and trying to teach them lessons of life through sports. This was his way of giving back to that."

Scearce, a retired former athletic director at Katy's Memorial Parkway Junior High, is survived by his wife, two daughters and four grandchildren.