Roxboro, NC – Person County community mourns the death of its emergency pastor, who died Wednesday afternoon after a protracted battle with COVID-19
Merritt Buchanan spent about two weeks in Duke’s ICU fighting the virus while the community sent out prayers.
Unfortunately, the man remembered as a pillar of the community lost this battle.
A long deluge of grieving first responders escorted Buchanan’s body back to Person County from Duke Hospital.
“It’s just testimony that Person County emergency responders want to pick him up at midnight and take him home,” said Ralph Thompson, EMS Chaplains director.
He considered Buchanan a good friend.
When he retired, he faithfully served the Lord by serving first responders and those in crisis in Person County. And he did so with the zeal and energy of a young man, ”Thompson added.
The 72-year-old served as a chaplain for volunteer fire departments, hospitals and the police.
It served as a ‘light’ for people with COVID
During the pandemic, he became a bright spot for many COVID-19 patients, praying for them and their nurses.
“We struggled every day to care for the people who had COVID. As I watch him die, I wonder who is going to share those words of encouragement now to help us through it, ”said Pattie Hatcher, who worked with Buchanan at Person Memorial Hospital.
Hatcher said that in her 30 years as a nurse, she has never met a chaplain as concerned and caring as Buchanan.
He was one of the greats. He really was, ”she said.
Teacher, hospital quilt, disaster volunteer
Jermaine Wallace, one of his high school students, remembered him saying, “He was there for everything, no matter what. Whether it was going to the hospital to visit people, show up for a scene of a disaster, or just greet you when you enter a restaurant. That’s what a lot of people in the community will really miss. “
According to many who knew him, he was a true servant who will never be forgotten.
“What we’ll see in the next few days is exactly how many lives he’s touched,” Thompson said. “I believe his life, his legacy will continue to touch many more lives just through his memory and inspiration from other people.”
The family is in the process of making memorial arrangements for him, but has no fixed plans yet.