Former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, Bill Armistead, announced on Thursday evening that his wife had died following a tragic accident.

The West Alabama Watchman reports that Emily Armistead was struck by a car on Highway 43 in Linden while crossing the street. She and her husband were walking to Linden United Methodist Church to attend a funeral.

According to the Watchman, she died shortly following the accident after being she was transported to Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in Demopolis.

In a Facebook post, Bill Armistead, who served as the chair of the Alabama GOP from 2011 to 2015, called his wife “the love of his life.”

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I lost the love of my life today in a tragic automobile accident,” he wrote. “Emily and I would have been married 49 years on April 6th and I thank God for giving me the woman that He created to be my wife for these wonderful years. And, there could not have been a better wife, mother and grandmother in all the world. Now, Emily is with Jesus for all of eternity where I look forward to joining her at God’s chosen time. Thanks to my many friends who have heard the news today and I am sorry I haven’t been able to respond to all. I felt this was the best way to get the word out to as many as possible. We covet your prayers. ‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ Job 1:21”