STANFORD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Almost a month after his diagnosis with COVID-19, former Stanford Police Department Detective and founder of the local Fraternal Order of Police Tim Morris died Tuesday.
The Stanford Police Department announced his passing on Facebook, calling Morris a "special person and an asset to this community."
"He's done everything that a good-hearted person could possibly do," Rita Morris, his wife, said in an interview with LEX 18 via Zoom Wednesday.
Morris worked for the department for 16 years and helped spearhead the 'Shop with a Cop' program, according to the department's Facebook. The post noted that when the group could not meet due to the pandemic, he and his wife shopped on their own and delivered presents to the kids who needed them.
His wife told LEX 18 that they were skeptical of the vaccine, but had a change of heart this summer when they observed COVID-19 cases spiking.
By the time they decided to schedule an appointment to get vaccinated, they both started to feel sick.
While Rita's condition remained relatively mild, her husband's condition quickly deteriorated.
"When he went to the bathroom, he wasn't even for sure if he was going to make it back," she said.
Just days after his diagnosis with COVID-19, Morris was hospitalized. For the last week of his life, he was on a ventilator.
His family was allowed to visit him Tuesday.
"His number was 559 for the last 16 years that he worked at [Stanford Police]," Rita Morris said. "And I just told him, '559, it's time to go home and enjoy your retirement and be with your mom and dad.'"
Morris said she wishes her husband had gotten the vaccine. She plans to get the vaccine as soon as she is able to get it.
"It is a deadly virus," she said. "And we as people--as citizens--are the only ones that are going to make it get better and not kill so many people. We've got to use good judgment."
