Mayor of Tennessee town that hosts Bonnaroo music fest dies of COVID-19, officials say

The mayor of a small Tennessee town died Monday of COVID-19, officials said.

Lonnie Norman had recently been elected to his third term as mayor of Manchester, home to about 11,000 people roughly 65 miles south of Nashville, WTVC reported.

In a Facebook post Monday morning, the city said Norman gave “a valiant fight against COVID-19.”

“With a deep sense of sadness and loss, we announce the passing of Mayor Lonnie Norman after being hospitalized for COVID-19 on October 1, 2020,” the city said.

Manchester is home to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which brings in about 80,000 people annually. The festival commented on social media Saturday while Norman was hospitalized.

“The incredible, Mayor Lonnie Norman, of our hometown Manchester, TN has been hospitalized due to COVID-19,” Bonnaroo wrote on Twitter. “The Bonnaroo family sends him all the love and hopes for a quick and speedy recovery.”

Vice Mayor Marilyn Howard told the Manchester Times for an article published Friday the doctors at the hospital had hoped “to kick him out soon.” Howard will be appointed to fill Norman’s position, according to the newspaper.

“Lonnie Norman is more than a friend and our Mayor,” former vice mayor Ryan French told the Manchester Times. “Lonnie is part of our family and has been for as long as I can remember.”

Norman became Manchester’s first Black mayor when he was first elected in 1991, according to WPLN.

Coffee County, where Manchester is located, has had 1,557 coronavirus cases and 17 deaths as of Sunday, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 6:03 AM with the headline "Mayor of Tennessee town that hosts Bonnaroo music fest dies of COVID-19, officials say."