MONROE, La. — A memorial service was held Saturday for Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, who died earlier this week due to complications from COVID-19.
The incoming Republican member of the U.S. House, died Tuesday night from complications related to COVID-19 only days before he would have been sworn into office. Letlow was elected to represent Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, which includes a portion of St. Landry Parish.
Kilpatrick Funeral Homes held a memorial service for Letlow at 2 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2021 at North Monroe Baptist Church in Monroe. More than 200 people were in attendance, including U.S. Representatives Garret Graves and Clay Higgins and former U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham, for whom Letlow was Chief of Staff during his time in Washington.
Letlow was remembered as a "true servant's servant" and someone who loved the state of Louisiana.
“He was genuinely interested in meeting people and hearing their stories. He wanted to know what shaped them and made them who they were. Those stories shaped him and changed the way he lived. He went into politics to be a public servant in the purest sense. He wanted to help others because he loved them deeply and sincerely and was driven by his faith," said Jonathan S. Wagner, pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Services were live streamed via the North Monroe website at www.NorthMonroe.com/Media.
Masks were mandatory for those in attendance.
Letlow, 41, was transferred to the ICU on Tuesday with COVID-19 after he was hospitalized on Dec. 19 in Monroe. He is survived by his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two children, Jeremiah, 3, and Jacqueline, 1.
READ MORE about the memorial service from The Associated Press here.
According to the Associated Press, Dr. G.E. Ghali, of LSU Health Shreveport, told The Advocate that Letlow didn’t have any underlying health conditions that would have placed him at greater risk to COVID-19.
Ghali told the Monroe News Star that Letlow died from a heart attack following a procedure related to the infection.
Letlow was born in Start, Louisiana, and graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2003. Read more about his life here.
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