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WOODBRIDGE, Va. - A vacation in the Outer Banks turned into a tragedy for a Virginia family. Forty-nine-year-old Matthew Glomb of Woodbridge was jogging on the beach in Southern Shores, N.C., when he was struck by lightning and killed.
The Glombs got a visit from their pastor in Woodbridge Monday night. The pastor told them a chaplain with the fire department found the church's number in their father's cell phone and told them he had been killed.
"He never moved. He never flinched," said Sunny Green, a witness.
Glomb was jogging in the Outer Banks along the shore when firefighters say he was struck by lightning. "It was the lightning bolt and then nothing so you know it was a deadly blow," said Green.
Glomb was on a trip with his college-aged son at their family beach house in Southern Shores, N.C. when a nasty storm pounded the area Monday night. Friend Mary Jane McQuadd says she spoke to Glomb's wife.
"She just couldn't believe it -- Mr. Safety," she said.
Glomb was a Maritime attorney for the Department of Justice in Washington, served in the Coast Guard and was a father of two. He recently celebrated July 4 with his neighbors in his Woodbridge cul-de-sac.
"Matt was always there for his neighbors. He was the finest family man I've ever met in my life," said McQuadd.
McQuadd showed ABC 7 News a book she says Glomb gave her son for his birthday about the sea and a note he wrote to her on her 60th birthday.
"God bless you Matt, we're [going to] miss you. I just hope I can be there for Lucy and the kids," she said.
This Thursday is the Glomb's wedding anniversary. They would have been together for 26 years. The family is now in the Outer Banks making funeral arrangements.
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