In a funeral home chapel in Peachtree Corners, mourners gathered for Jonathan Erik Locke’s final send-off. Photos attached to poster boards gave attendees glimpses of happier times: Locke as an adorable baby, as a child in a baseball uniform, as a grown-up posing with loved ones, friends and work colleagues.
Standing at a podium at the front of the room, retired pastor Michael McCullar spoke glowingly of Locke, who died unexpectedly two weeks before his 42nd birthday. There was his “brilliant decision” to attend Auburn University, the minister reminded those grieving, pausing to ask for the school’s requisite battle cry, “War Eagle!” Mostly, McCullar praised Locke’s big heart, generous spirit and “unique compassion that led to a willingness to help people in need.”
In those moments, it might have been easy for some mourners to forget what McCullar had told them at the beginning of the service — that he was eulogizing a man he’d never met…