UPDATE: Friends remember Clark County Judge-Executive

Wednesday, family, friends, and colleagues gathered at Calvary Christian Church for Judge-Executive Pace's funeral.

UPDATED WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20 AT 3:00 P.M.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – It’s a tearful day for Clark County as people mourn the loss of not just a leader, but a friend.

Wednesday, family, friends, and colleagues gathered at Judge-Executive Chris Pace’s church, Calvary Christian in Winchester, for his funeral.

Joel Terry knew Judge-Executive Chris Pace from the time Pace was about ten years old. Terry and Pace’s brother Donald are about six years older than Judge-Executive Pace, but Terry says they were all best friends. He remembers their friendship during their teenage years.

“I can remember when we were kids, he was probably eight or ten, and I was 15 or so, and we were playing video games. He was talking about how his brother had the record on this motorcycle game we were playing and I was about to beat it,” said Terry, “And I just remember Chris jumping up and down and everything. The plug then just fell out of the wall and Chris was like, ‘stuff like that always happens for my brother.’ He always had that high score that we could never beat, and finally, I was about to beat it. But then the plug just fell out of the wall and Chris was so defeated.”

According to Terry, Pace had a sense of humor and always knew what to say.

“He was an outstanding guy. He was very funny, really witty, and always had the right words to say when they needed to be said. And he’s going to be very missed,” said Terry.

Shane Jennings, a friend of Pace’s for over 40 years, remembers staying up late playing cards and video games with Pace and his brother as children. He says Pace was like a brother to him.

“If he made jokes about you, then you were good. We always joked around. He was like a brother to me, even though there’s no relation. We were close. We were close,” said Jennings.

Jennings says Pace never left anyone out.

“Chris included everyone. He left no one out. He was first to volunteer and I respected him greatly for that,” said Jennings.

After a brief battle with COVID-19, Pace died at Clark County Regional Medical Center on October 14, according to the Clark County Coroner.

County officials named Magistrate David Konstantopolous as Interim Judge-Executive on October 15.

Pace is buried at Winchester Cemetery in Winchester.

UPDATED MONDAY, OCTOBER 18 AT 5:05 P.M.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – The funeral arrangements for Chris Pace have been set.

According to Scobee Funeral Home, Pace’s visitation will start at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Calvary Christian Church.

The funeral will be held at 12:45 p.m. Pastor Mike McCormick, Rep. Ryan Dotson and Pastor Brock Carlile will officiate.

Pace’s burial will take place after the service at the Winchester Cemetery.

UPDATED FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 AT 5:30 P.M.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – Clark County is mourning the sudden loss of a leader.

Friday afternoon, county officials held a special meeting to name Magistrate David Konstantopolous as Interim Judge-Executive.

Judge-Executive Chris Pace died Thursday night after a brief battle with COVID-19, according to Clark County Coroner Robert Gayheart.

According to Judge Pace’s pastor, Mike McCormick of Calvary Christian Church, Pace was always willing to help out.

“He had a heart of service,” said McCormick, “I think that’s why he was a public servant.”

Winchester Mayor Ed Burton says Pace was a close friend of his family’s, growing up with his son.

“He would be over at our house quite a bit and he liked to tell people that he was confident that he and my son had buried a lot of, I don’t even know what, little toy soldiers or something–they’re probably still there. He liked to talk about that…he was a good guy,” said Burtner.

Pace was known for being passionate about both Clark County’s history and its people, addressing issues most important to the community.

“A week and a half ago, we had some major flooding here in Clark County, and he was on the scene. He’s always on the scene. When there was an issue to arise within the community of Winchester or Clark County itself, he along with Mayor Burtner were there together. He was always working hand in hand with Mayor Burtner,” said Winchester State Representative Ryan Dotson.

The Republican was elected to office in 2018 and assumed his duties in 2019. According to State Representative Dotson, the 44-year-old was the “underdog” in the 2018 race, ecstatic that he’d won.

“He had such a bright future. He was a well-spoken, well thought out individual. He put thought into everything he did,” said State Representative Dotson.

According to Clark County Constable David Puckett, the Judge-Executive was a devout Christian.

“He believed that he was led by God to do what he was doing, and I think he believed that with all his heart and I can see that in how he spoke and what we talked about–even when we were talking about constable things, you know, that always came up,” said Constable Puckett.

Judge/Executive Pace leaves behind a wife and three young children. Scobee Funeral Home in Winchester has not yet announced Pace’s funeral arrangements.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED OCTOBER 15, 2021 AT 12:32 A.M.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – People in Clark County are mourning the sudden loss of Judge-Executive Chris Pace, who died Thursday night from COVID-19, according to Clark County Coroner Robert Gayheart.

The coroner says the 44-year old Pace had been in quarantine for the last few days, was taken to the emergency room at Clark Regional Medical Center in Winchester on Thursday night, where he died.  The coroner says he wasn’t aware of any underlying health conditions for Pace.

Pace leaves behind a wife and three children.

The Republican had served as judge-executive since 2019.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Scobee Funeral Home in Winchester.