KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- While Thursday night's explosion happened in an instant, the shock of the blast will never go away for Barry Withrow's family.

Withrow, who worked as a chemical operator at the Bayer CropScience plant and was also a part of the emergency response team, died in the accident. His survivors include a wife and two daughters.

For the members of Cross Lanes Baptist Church, the explosion wasn't just something they saw on TV.

"Everybody that calls, after they seen it on the news, ask 'Is that our Barry?' " said Seth Polk, the church’s pastor. "I said, 'Yes, that was our Barry.' "

Now Polk must comfort his congregation. All the while -- he must try to ease his own pain of losing not just a member of his church -- but also a close friend. Polk described Withrow as a man who loved his family and his church.

"Barry had a good sense of humor," he said. "He was good to be around, had a big heart for people and would have done anything for anybody."

Withrow especially liked helping young people and even went on a mission trip to Jamaica.

"He was patient with children," Polk said. "The children are very much going to take it hard because they loved them and how much they knew he loved them."

Kids even helped nickname Withrow "Game Dude" from when he was the game director of the children's ministry. That name stuck – long after Withrow left his post as game director.