El Paso bishop, funeral director dies months later after testing positive for COVID-19
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — A bishop who comforted countless of families during difficult times has died five months later after testing positive for COVID-19, according to Perches Funeral Home.
Bishop Harrison Johnson was the senior pastor at Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church in northeast El Paso.
“He’s just a wonderful man, a religious man. He was friends with everybody. He had his congregation, of course loved him,” Salvador Perches, CEO of Perches Funeral Home, said.
Johnson was also a funeral director for more than 40 years, five of which he spent at Perches Funeral Home.
Throughout his decades of service in the Borderland, Johnson played a crucial role in helping El Pasoans heal after the Aug. 3rd mass shooting.
“He was there, right away attending to families. He took care of [Antonio] Basco and Margie Reckard’s service, and he was the one that had told El Paso that if they wanted to go to the hospital, they could and that’s why we had that big service for Margie Reckard,” Perches said.
Johnson was a husband, a father of five children, a grandfather of 10 grandchildren and a great-grandfather to one child, according to Johnson’s website biography on Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church.
“Death is difficult as it is, but the way things are now and having to take care of families or have a family member die of COVID, it’s hard,” Rafael Ramirez, Perches funeral director, said.
Perches said Johnson marks the third funeral director he has lost to COVID-19. The other two directors lived in Juarez, and it is unknown how they contracted the virus, Perche said.
Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church asked for the family’s privacy during this difficult time in a Facebook post and said the details of Johnson’s services would be announced later.
Harrison's funeral services will be held Sunday and Monday.
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