Jason Locke's Blog

Saturday evening, January 15, 2022, Julie's mom Barbara (Brown) Anderson died after a three-week battle with COVID. She was fully vaccinated and extremely careful, but someone somehow inadvertently exposed her to the Omicron variant. That became a breakthrough infection for her. She had a health condition that put her in the high-risk category. The virus seemed relatively innocuous at first but slowly made its way to her lungs. It seemed to us that she would recover, but her condition took a rapid turn for the worse on Saturday. She had just turned 81. Barbara was blessed beyond words. She always knew the love of her family and the love of the church. And she never veered from her faith in God despite many legitimate, thoughtful questions that put her in good standing with the saints of all ages. What a great legacy! She passed that blessing on to us and many others. We are saddened beyond words at her passing. My heart goes out especially to Julie's dad Bob. They were mar...

My dad Larry Locke took his final breath this afternoon. He was in the comfort of his own home in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was as beautiful a spring day as Middle Tennessee can provide. Lovely breeze. Chirping birds. Blooming flowers. But Dad had been unable for weeks to notice the glory of God's created world. He was ready to go and be with the Lord forever. Over the last 2+ years, Larry had struggled with dementia and previously undiagnosed depression. A lifelong runner, he had never spent a night in the hospital prior to this sickness. The loss of his vitality was a blow to all who knew and loved him. While his first hospitalization returned him to a level close to his old self, subsequent declines and hospital stays left him a shadow of the man we knew. His time for this life would number 76 years. Larry Locke was born in 1942 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. His father, W. H. Locke, owned a small diner. His mother, Pansy Worley Locke, had done office work but as a mother was mos...