Roxboro, NC – Person County community mourns the death of its emergency chaplain, who died Wednesday afternoon after a prolonged battle with COVID-19
Merritt Buchanan spent about two weeks in the ICU at Duke fighting the virus, while the community sent prayers.
Unfortunately, the man remembered as a pillar of the community, lost this fight.
A long journey of motorcyclists with the first grieving intervenors escorted Buchanan’s body back to Person County from Duke Hospital.
“It’s just a testimony that the first respondents in Person County would like to pick him up at midnight and bring him home,” said Ralph Thompson, director of EMS chaplains.
He considered Buchanan a good friend.
“Upon retirement, he faithfully served the gentleman serving the first respondents and people in crisis in Person County. And he did it with the zeal and energy of a young man, “added Thompson.
The 72-year-old served as chaplain for the volunteer fire departments, hospitals and police.
It served as a “light” for those with COVID
During the pandemic, he became a beacon for many COVID-19 patients, praying for them and their nurses.
“We struggle every day to take care of people who are sick with COVID. Seeing him die, I wonder who will share those words of encouragement now to help us get through, “said Pattie Hatcher, who worked with Buchanan at Person Memorial Hospital.
Hatcher said he had never met a chaplain as worried and caring as Buchanan in his 30 years of care.
“He was one of the greats. He really was, “she said.
High school teacher, hospital comforter, stage volunteer
Jermaine Wallace, one of his high school students, remembered him, saying, “He was there for anything, no matter what. Whether he went to the hospital to visit people, to show up at a disaster scene, or just to greet you, you went into a restaurant. That’s what many 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 will see in the next few days is exactly how many lives he has touched,” Thompson said.
The family is in the process of making memorial arrangements for him, but they do not yet have plans in place.