Deacon Thomas Winninger, who served four parishes in the Twin Cities in his 15 years of ministry and was widely known as a motivational speaker, supporter of Catholic families, author and market researcher, died Feb. 11. He was 72.

Deacon Thomas Winninger

A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Deacon Winninger was a member of Our Lady of Grace in Edina, where his funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 23 and livestreamed on the parish website at olgparish.org.He was ordained in 2006 and served at Holy Spirit in St. Paul from 2006 to 2007 and St. Olaf and Our Lady of Lourdes, both in Minneapolis, from 2007 to 2013 and 2013 to 2019, respectively. He was serving at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bloomington when he died after a short battle with cancer.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel at West 50th St. and Highway 100.

Survivors include his wife, Lynne Marie Winninger, seven children and 13 grandchildren.