Facebook/Coosada Church of Christ
A graveside service was held for an Alabama pastor who served his congregation for more than 40 years before he died from COVID-19, and his wife, who had succumbed to the novel coronavirus two weeks earlier.
The Coosada Church of Christ posted a video of the service that was held Saturday at Elizabeth Baptist Church in Mathews, Alabama, where John Thomas, who was the pastor of the church for 41 years, and his wife, Joann, had been laid to rest.
Pastor Thomas died on Dec. 26, a fortnight after his wife, Joann, died, WSFA12 News reported. They were married for 52 years.
Pastor Jim Applegate, 54 (C), his 83-year-old mother Patricia Applegate (L) and his sister, MaryJane Applegate, 59 (R), all died from the coronavirus over the course on one week. | WKYC
An Indiana pastor, his sister and elderly mother all recently died from the new coronavirus over the course of a week as new data shows the brunt of the devastation from the virus shifting toward rural and less densely populated parts of the United States.
Pastor Jim Applegate, 54, who led Westview Christian Church in Campbellsburg for 21 years, died from the virus on Dec. 20, WKYC reported. Some 12 hours later on Dec. 21, his 83-year-old mother, Patricia Applegate, died from the virus at Baptist Health Floyd hospital. His older sister, MaryJane Applegate, 59, died from the virus on Christmas Eve.
Michael “Mike” Stancil, 49, was pastor of Fulton Bridge Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ala. He died on Dec. 26, 2020 from COVID-19. | Facebook/Fulton Bridge Baptist Church
An Alabama pastor, who urged his congregants to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in March, is now being mourned by his family and church after he died from the virus Saturday.
Pastor Michael “Mike” Stancil of Fulton Bridge Baptist Church in Hamilton was 49 when he died after a six-week battle with the new coronavirus, TAB Media reported.
And the loss was palpable as Gary Mixon, chairman of the church’s deacon board, talked about Stancil’s passing during an online service on Sunday.