Coronavirus claims at least 7 more veteran pastors, leaving churches to celebrate Easter in mourning
Pastor Bernard Moss, 85, died on March 29 at the Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Georgia, the WRBL reported. He was the first Muscogee County victim of the coronavirus.
The pastor and his wife, Claudett, led New Birth New Beginning Church in South Columbus.
His family told the publication that on March 14 Moss played nine holes at Oxbow Meadows Golf Course. Three days later, after he began feeling unwell, he went to the doctor the following Tuesday.
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“He didn’t really get sick until after then,” his widow Claudett said. “He was sick, but not sick, sick.”
With a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, Moss was admitted to Piedmont Columbus Regional on the day he visited but was released on March 21. He went back into the hospital the next day and on March 26, the pastor was diagnosed with the coronavirus. It was the last day his widow would talk with him.
“He had a deep voice. He said love you. We always said I was his mama and he was my daddy. I said, ‘Now, you do what they tell you to. You hear what your mama say.’ He said, ‘OK. Love you,’” she said.
Moss’ family said they don’t know how he contracted the virus but revealed that he had underlying health conditions including heart disease. His funeral service was done on Facebook and he was buried at the Main Post Cemetery on Fort Benning.
