Minister, ORU grounds manager, 55, first Oklahoma coronavirus victim

The Rev. Merle Dry, 55, Berryhill resident, United Pentecostal minister, and grounds manager at Oral Roberts University, is the first death resulting from Wuhan Chinese Bat Virus in Oklahoma. Metro Pentecostal Church, where Dry was a member, posted the following information on its Facebook page:

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.

DUE TO MISINFORMATION:

Merle Dry was in good health as far as we all knew. He was fighting a cold and then he contacted the corona virus. He was diagnosed on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He was unable to breathe. He was age 55 and Cherokee. He had not been at the Church for a bit due to his not feeling well. We are taking all precautions to allow the virus to die out in the area he would have been in.

He was over the grounds at Oral Roberts University. He won awards for his exceptional work there. Those who knew him knew he loved people. He always interacted with the students. He is from Haskell, OK.

He leaves his dear wife, Carrie (McNulty) Dry, son, Jesse, age 22, daughter, Pamela, age 17. Pamela will graduate this year. His wife is a Tulsa Public School Teacher. They live in Berryhill.

Prayers are needed for this exceptional family. They are loved by all.

Carrie Dry is a language arts teacher at Edison Middle School.

KJRH has more details of Dry's illness from Metro Pentecostal pastor Don Martin:

"All we know is he had a cold, he didn't even go into ER until Sunday because he was having trouble breathing," Pastor Martin said. "And he wasn't diagnosed with the virus until Tuesday, and he passed away the next day, this past Wednesday."

Pastor Martin says Dry told him Monday, "I'm going to beat this thing."

Rev. Dry was on the ministerial staff at Metro Pentecostal Church, a licensed minister in the Oklahoma District of the United Pentecostal Church International, and served as secretary of the Oklahoma District's Childrens Ministry committee. Numerous comments on the Metro Pentecostal Facebook post pay tribute to his positive influence as an evangelist and mentor.

A December 2018 profile of Merle Dry in the ORU Oracle reveals his creative and whimsical approach to designing and maintaining the campus's beautifully kept grounds:

Though their days are long and full of hard work, the groundskeepers truly enjoy their work and are always ready to wave "hello" to students and other passersby.

"I like working around the people out here and helping, being involved," said Dry. "When people come to the campus, I want the campus to have an impact, to reach out and grab somebody and say, 'Hey, you need to be here as a student.' I want them to be able to say the campus looks good, and if it looks good, they'll feel comfortable being in a place that looks good. We try to maintain it the best we can at all times."...

Dry's system falls in line with the yearly seasons. A few weeks ago, the fall flowers were planted, yellow and purple pansies, chosen to match the school colors of gold and blue in a flower that will stay alive through the harsh, winter winds. They are now in the planning process for spring and will begin planting the spring flowers in January, as the weather warms up. The spring flowers will stay throughout the summer. Though Dry and the guys keep the campus fresh on the day to day, they're always thinking six months ahead.

In addition to keeping the campus bright and lively year round, the groundskeepers have found a creative outlet within topiary, which is the process of shaping perennial plants into shapes.

"We shape them in all kinds of ways, like birds," said Lionel Parra, one of the groundskeepers. "We say, 'Let's try to make this one this way,' and we do it. It's a little bit more work, but we like it."

In these living sculptures, the groundskeepers find ways to have fun at work.

"When we get plants in, sometimes if their oddly shaped, we won't leave them oddly shaped, and these guys will get creative and make something out of them," explained Dry.

Dry was employed by Sodexho, which has the contract for food, maintenance, grounds, and custodial services at ORU.