One of two elderly people in my family to die shortly after a bout with COVID was a pastor. Both he and his wife, my blood kin, caught it. He came down with symptoms first. I believe they killed him when they intubated him. They could not ween him off the machine. Still, it’s obvious they were exposed at service or one of the service related functions. This was the only real social activity they engaged in. Tragic.
Would masks have helped? Who can really say? There were perhaps hundreds of opportunities to pick up a virus with or without a mask in large groups.