The COVID death of a man of the cloth who also was a longtime security officer and helping hand to students hit the university, which already had suffered two losses to this plague, hard.
“It is with great sadness that I share the news of another loss in the Lipscomb family,” read an email from President Randy Lowry sent out to the Lipscomb community on Thursday afternoon.
Lowry went on to explain that the Lipscomb Security veteran and minister at the 19th Avenue Church of Christ in Springfield, Tennessee, Maurice J. Conner, had died of COVID-19, marking the third loss in the Lipscomb community in the past six weeks.
Conner started at Lipscomb as a student and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1981. Shortly after graduating, he joined Lipscomb’s security team in 1983 and while serving the security team also earned his master of arts in Bible in 2000.
Lowry shared how respected and loved Conner was among the Lipscomb community due to the “wisdom, compassion, and joyful nature,” that Conner brought to his job every day.
“The deep and profound respect and love the security team has for Maurice was obvious as they relayed stories about shared work experiences, his humorous radio calls to dispatch to report on weather conditions during the third shift and their lively conversations about faith, theology and life,” said Lowry.
“In addition to being a dedicated security officer, Maurice was also a minister and mentor to his colleagues through the years.”
“He was definitely gentle, caring, and very devout,” said security colleague Alex Ryan. “He had clearly done a lot of his own thinking so any religious conversation you might have he always had an answer.
“He was definitely very interested in what you were doing and what was going on in your life.”
Lipscomb communications officer Ken Solts said his friend “always wanted to know what you were thinking, so he would ask a specific question to draw you in…He was a gentle giant.”
The loss of Conner adds to what has been a difficult few weeks for the Lipscomb community, and in light of the sadness, Lowry went on to share some words of solace.
“While we firmly trust in God’s providential care, we at the same time are hurting and mourn as we grieve the passing of those in our community. I am thankful to be a part of a community that holds strong to its faith and finds comfort in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” said Lowry in his message to the community.