The Rev. Merle Dry, a beloved grounds manager at Oral Roberts University and Pentecostal minister, became the first casualty of the deadly coronavirus in Oklahoma last Wednesday. He was 55.
Dry’s death was announced Wednesday night by Metro Pentecostal Church, led by Don Martin, in Tulsa where he served.
“It is with great sadness that I have to announce our dear Bro Merle Dry made his journey from earth to glory at 8:01pm. Sis Dry and family are under quarantine and cannot receive guests. Please text her instead of calling. Thanks to everyone for your prayers. We need the hand of God to guide us. He was so loved by the Metro Pentecostal Church. Details of his funeral will be forthcoming,” a statement on the church’s Facebook page said.
The statement also sought to clarify what it termed “misinformation” regarding Dry’s health explaining that as far as the church knew, Dry had no underlying illness prior to his death from the coronavirus.
“Merle Dry was in good health as far as we all knew. He was fighting a cold and then he contracted the coronavirus. He was diagnosed on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He was unable to breathe,” the church continued, noting that the pastor was a member of the Cherokee Nation.
Because of his cold, Dry had not been attending church and leaders are “taking all precautions to allow the virus to die out in the area he would have been in,” the church added.
Dry was described as an “authentic” person who “loved people.”
SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair
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