COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee — A Collierville church family is dealing with the cruel costs COVID-19 continues to take on those across the Mid-South.
Thursday morning, Collierville Christian Church Associate Minister Morgan Parks died from COVID complications, after weeks in the ICU.
"He loved life a great deal and we would have loved to have him around a lot longer," Collierville Christian Church Senior Minister Rev. Ron Buck said.
The news that church family feared became reality Thursday when Rev. Parks died from COVID complications.
"It's been very difficult on them. It's made us more acutely aware of how important it is to be careful," Rev. Buck added.
Rev. Parks and Rev. Buck knew each other for more than a decade, including time at the Memphis Theological Seminary and working alongside each other at two churches.
"When he would step on the stage, either to help sing or to pray or to do a sermon, you could just tell he was on," Rev. Buck said.
Rev. Parks also served as Collierville Christian Church's certified grief counselor, even leading funeral services for families he just met but quickly connected with.
"He just had a way of inviting you to talk and he would listen. He was good at that," Rev. Buck said.
But COVID cut those talents short.
Rev. Parks' diagnosis in early August came just days after his 61st birthday and Rev. Buck said he deteriorated quickly.
"By the end of that week he had tested positive, by mid-week he was in the hospital, and within a few days he was in ICU," Rev. Buck said.
Rev. Parks leaves behind six children and 11 grandchildren, the community he served, and the lives he touched across the years.
"He was engaged, he was vibrant and he had a passion for life and for people and a deep commitment to the church," Rev. Buck said.
Funeral arrangements are still pending.