Deacon Dale Frank Lister of Jefferson, a permanent deacon at St. Catherine Laboure Mission Church, Commerce, died on Friday, Nov. 21. He was 65.

The Ohio native, who was born on May 20, 1943, in Toledo to Rose Hundsrucker Lister and the late Albert Lister, was ordained as a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Atlanta in February and had been serving at St. Catherine Laboure for nearly nine months. He had also been selected as an honorary co-chairman of the 2008 Relay for Life team.

Deacon Lister attended the University of Toledo, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, N.Y., and Furman University, Greenville, S.C. He also completed specialized courses at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan.

He was involved in the design of high-speed bakeries and sales of bakery equipment for nearly 33 years. He most recently served as regional sales manager at Gemini Bakery Equipment Co., which is headquartered in Philadelphia.

While studying and preparing for ordination to the diaconate, he had served as chairman of the parish council, as a member of the building committee, a lector, eucharistic minister and minister to the homebound, youth minister, catechist and member of the Knights of Columbus.

In addition to his mother, Deacon Lister is survived by his wife of 42 years, Pamela, of Jefferson; his sons, Gregory, of Commerce, Mark and his wife, Sonja, of Woodstock, and Tim, of Cumming; his sister, Barbara Knannlein, of Toledo, Ohio; his brother, Al, of Columbus, Ohio; and four grandchildren, Jacob, Jenna, Mallori and Macy Lister.

A funeral Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Richard Lopez on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at St. Joseph Church, Athens. Contributions in memory of Deacon Lister may be made to the St. Catherine Laboure Building Fund, 708 State St., Commerce, GA 30529.