Roxboro, NC – Person County community mourns death of emergency chaplain, who died Wednesday afternoon after prolonged battle with COVID-19
Merritt Buchanan spent about two weeks in Duke’s ICU battling the virus while the community sent out prayers.
Unfortunately, the man remembered as a pillar of the community lost this fight.
A long caravan of distressed first responders escorted Buchanan’s body to Person County from Duke Hospital.
“It’s just a testimony that the first attendees in Person County would like to pick him up at midnight and take him home,” said Ralph Thompson, the director of EMS chaplains.
He considered Buchanan a good friend.
“When he retired, he faithfully served the lord by serving first aid and people in crisis in Person County. And he did it with the zeal and energy of a young man, ”Thompson added.
The 72-year-old served as chaplain for volunteer fire departments, hospitals and the police department.
It served as a “light” for COVID patients
During the pandemic, it became a beacon for many COVID-19 patients, praying for them and their nurses.
“We were fighting daily to take care of people with COVID. Seeing him die, I wonder who will share those words of encouragement now to get us through, ”said Pattie Hatcher, who worked with Buchanan at Person Memorial Hospital.
Hatcher said she has never met a chaplain as worried and concerned as Buchanan in her 30 years as a nurse.
“He was one of the greats. It really was, ”he said.
Middle school teacher, hospital quilt, disaster scene volunteer
Jermaine Wallace, one of his high school students, remembered him and said, “I was there for anything, no matter what happened. If I went to the hospital to visit people, I would show up at a scene of a disaster or “I just greeted you when you walked into a restaurant. That’s what a lot of people in the community will miss.”
According to many who knew him, he was a true servant who will never be forgotten.
“What we’ll see over the next few days is exactly how many lives he touched,” Thompson said. “I believe his life, his legacy will continue to touch many more lives only through his memory and inspiration of other people.” “
The family is in the process of making commemorative arrangements for him, but has no plans in place yet.