A man who defied state orders and kept his restaurant open last year during the pandemic, partly to pay medical bills, has died of complications from COVID-19.
John Parney, 62, operated the Quincy Diner in Quincy in southern Michigan.
He was admitted to a hospital with COVID-19 in September, went home but quickly developed significant health problems that put him back in the hospital, according to a GoFundMe page.
Parney died on Dec. 14.
This browser does not support the GoFundMe element.
His obituary said he, "Honorably Served his country in the United States Marine Corps. He was a member of New Hope United Brethren Church and he owned and operated the Quincy Diner while working full-time at Firekeepers Casino and Hotel."
He kept the restaurant open in December 2020 in violation of orders from the Michigan health department, which was trying to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by banning dine-in business.
"My wife’s fighting stage-four colon cancer," Parney said at the time. "We depend on this restaurant to help subsidize billing and all of that. My employees need that. Of course, if I’d have stayed closed much longer, I’d have lost the business."
Employees wore masks and customers were spread out.
"We’re doing all the stuff we’re supposed to do, other than the fact that my doors are open," Parney said.
Parney wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 but had pledged during his illness to get a shot "because the battle, at that point, was worse than any training he endured in the military," his family said.
He is survived by his wife, Paula Parney, whom he married in 1985. She said on the diner's Facebook page that she will keep the restaurant open.
With the Associated Press