Deacon Thomas Miller, 78, served in Columbia

Deacon Thomas Miller, 78, a retired deacon of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Columbia, died on Nov. 18 at the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Nov. 27 in Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Columbia, with Monsignor Michael T. Flanagan, pastor emeritus, presiding.

Born on May 1, 1939, he was a 1957 graduate of Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City, Iowa.

He served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a technical sergeant in 1977.

A member of the first permanent deacon ordination class for the Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi, he was ordained on June 17, 1979, by Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze of Biloxi and was instrumental in establishing Catholic prison ministry in that diocese.

Late in 2006, he and his wife, Patricia, relocated to Columbia to be near their children and grandchildren.

Deacon Miller remained incardinated with the Biloxi diocese but upon agreement between Bishop Thomas J. Rodi of Biloxi and Bishop John R. Gaydos of Jefferson City was given faculties for ministry in the Jefferson City diocese and assigned by Bishop Gaydos to assist the Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in January 2007.

Deacon Miller retired from active ministry in 2013.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Our Lady of Lourdes parish conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society or to the Knights of Columbus Scholarship Fund.