Father J. Michael Bryon, pastor of Pax Christi, died unexpectedly May 20 after returning home from a pilgrimage to Greece. Courtesy Pax Christi

The pastor of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie died unexpectedly May 20. Father J. Michael Byron, 62, had served as the pastor of large suburban parish since 2018.

Father Bryon returned to the Twin Cities May 18 from a 10-day pilgrimage to Greece “not feeling well,” was admitted to a hospital, “developed an infection that didn’t respond to treatment and was called home to God,” according to a May 20 message to Pax Christi parishioners from Carol Bishop, the parish director. Funeral arrangement are pending.

“We are hurting, but we are also deeply grateful that Fr. Mike has been part of our journey at Pax Christi,” Bishop said in the message, which was also posted on the parish website. “He devoted his life to God and we rejoice that he now sees God face-to-face.”

Pax Christi is holding a prayer service 7 p.m. May 20 at the parish. It will also be livestreamed. “Refreshments will be served after to ensure that we have time to talk, grieve and share,” Bishop said in the message.

Known to many as “Father Mike,” Father Byron was ordained in 1989 at the Cathedral of St. Paul and then ministered as an assistant priest at Assumption in Richfield until 1992, when he became chaplain of Academy of Holy Angels, also in Richfield, a role he held until 1995. He was a member of the faculty of The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul from 1995 to 2012, with those duties coinciding from 2004 to 2012 with his role as pastor of St. Cecilia in St. Paul. He was then pastor of St. Pascal Baylon in St. Paul from 2012 to 2018. From September 2015 until June 2016, he also served as parochial administrator of Sacred Heart in St. Paul. He was appointed to Pax Christi in July 2018.

Father Byron grew up the oldest of six siblings in Edina and attended Our Lady of Grace Catholic School and Valley View Middle School. He graduated from Edina High School before going to St. John’s University in Collegeville. According to a profile in the Catholic Bulletin, predecessor to The Catholic Spirit, published prior to his ordination, he had thought about the priesthood while in college, but “wanted to prove something to myself — that I could live and work on my own.” He earned a degree in economics and sought a career in banking with First Bank System Inc. before ultimately entering The St. Paul Seminary.

Father Byron’s sister, Molly Hill, 61, described him as “a brilliant thinker.”

“He was a quiet person and not somebody that needed to be the center of attention, but with a very strong intellect and sharp wit,” said Hill, 61, the second of the Byron siblings. “He was very kind and he was the kind of person that collected friends his whole life. … He was a very compassionate person, a good listener. He was a warm person.”

Hill, who worships at Pax Christi, said she was among three siblings who visited Father Byron at the hospital before his death.

The message about Father Byron’s death on Pax Christi’s website, titled “Holding Fr. Michael Byron In Our Prayers,” included the verse from John 14:2-3: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”