THORNAPPLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A longtime leader in Middleville has died after contracting COVID-19.

Barry County Commissioner Dan Parker died Friday.

Fellow Commissioner Ben Geiger said Parker had just been elected Thornapple Township Supervisor. Geiger said Parker owned a publishing business and also held public service positions in Thornapple Kellogg Schools and the village of Middleville.

“Our hearts are broken in losing Dan Parker,” Geiger said in a Monday statement. “But he wouldn’t want us to be sad. He would want us to find peace. In this dark hour, we can find peace in seeing his legacy all around us. It’s in the Middleville neighborhoods he helped build. It’s in parks and trails he made possible. It’s in the thriving TK School District he pushed it to be. And it’s in the hearts of people like me, who he mentored by his faith and example. Rest in peace, Dan. We won’t let your light stop shining.”

Visitation is scheduled for Wednesday at St. Paul Lutheran Church near Caledonia; masks will be required. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday. It will be private but a live stream will be available on the church’s YouTube channel and the Beeler-Gores Funeral Home website.

*Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the funeral would be Friday. It will be Thursday. We regret the mistake, which has been fixed.