Former lawmaker Morris Hood III dies of COVID-19 at 55

(FOX 2) - Former state lawmaker and community servant Morris Hood III has died of COVID-19. He was just 55 years old. 

We've learned he was hospitalized at the University of Michigan Hospital for more than two weeks and was on a ventilator. Hood had diabetes and underwent a kidney transplant in 2016. 

The son of the legendary former representative Morris Hood Jr., he served the people of Michigan's 3rd Senate District in Dearborn, Melvindale, and Detroit for eight years. He also served three terms representing the people of Michigan's 11th house district in the House of Representatives. He recently also began a position in the office of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans. 

"He was the very definition of a public servant, one who dedicated his life to improving the lives of others and bettering his community," Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said in a statement. 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also released a statement saying, "In his life and his years of public service, "Mo" carried on his father's tradition of public service and fighting for justice and equality. His passing is a great loss to the community." 

"He's going to be sorely missed. He died at an early age unfortunately but he did leave a mark," said Rev. Horace Sheffield, an activist with Detroit Association of Black Organizations.

Politics was in Hood's bloodline. His family and the Sheffield family worked for decades in the fight for civil rights.

"Morris Hood Sr. was involved in those efforts to really open up Detroit for African Americans. His grandson, the third, was a beneficiary of the work of people like his grandfather," Rev. Sheffield said. 

As Rev. Sheffield talks about the passing of his family friend he can't help but think about when he learned he had the coronavirus and his own fight to survive.

"For me that's why I'm doing testing things we do here in terms of food because I've been blessed to survive and it's for a reason and a purpose," he said. 

Rev. Sheffield believes Hood's life also served a purpose that had an impact on many, and if he could speak to Hood one again he would tell him:

"You've done a good job. You're a good, faithful servant. Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away."