Photo By Michael Alexander

Father James A. Miceli, who served as pastor of St. Mary Church in Rome from 1990 until June 2009 when he retired, died on Dec. 8. He was 60.

Ordained a priest on May 24, 1975 by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan, Father Miceli served the archdiocese for several years as an administrator, but most of his priesthood was spent as pastor to the Rome parish. During his pastorate, he guided the community through a major renovation and expansion of St. Mary Church in which transepts were introduced to double the seating capacity of the church and distinctive architectural and liturgical elements were added, including a steeple, stained glass windows and a high altar. A parish center was also built. St. Mary School also was modernized, renovated and enlarged to meet the changing needs of a larger Catholic community. A meditation garden he designed at the church was recognized for outstanding landscape design. He went to Mexico in order to learn Spanish and serve the Hispanic community of the parish.

Father Miceli was vice-chancellor of the archdiocese from 1978-1982 and was elected to serve on the Council of Priests for several terms in the 1990s and as dean of the northwest rural deanery. He was also a judge in the Court of Appeals of the Atlanta Province and a member of the board of directors of the Catholic Foundation of North Georgia. He also served at Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta and St. John Neumann Church in Lilburn.

The funeral arrangements include a rosary at St. Mary Church in Rome on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. followed by a wake service at

7:30 p.m. The funeral Mass is to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12, at St. Mary Church, followed by burial.