Sterling Heights — When it became clear that Fr. Ron Milligan wouldn’t return home from the hospital in late December to his beloved St. Ephrem Parish in Sterling Heights, he sought to send a final message to his parish family, and it would be fair to say it was the same message he’d spent his entire priesthood sending.

“He said to me, ‘Please tell the people, “Jesus is the sum of our life,”’” said Deacon Ed McLeod, a close friend of 42 years and deacon at St. Ephrem.

“In the Eucharist, Jesus comes first,” Deacon McLeod explained. “Jesus is first and most important in our lives, and he would emphasize that no matter what sacrament he was talking about or celebrating. That became the focus of his homilies, his liturgies and everything he did.”

Fr. Milligan, pastor of St. Ephrem Parish since 1996, died Dec. 27 after a recurrence of lung cancer. He was 69.

News of the beloved pastor’s unexpected death was met with surprise and grief at the parish, which had expected Fr. Milligan home for the holidays after he was admitted to the hospital in late November.

Deacon McLeod, who knew Fr. Milligan since their early days in seminary together, said Fr. Milligan had a love for the liturgy that “was just phenomenal.”

“When he would say ‘Let us pray,’ there was a moment of gathering our thoughts and prayers,” Deacon McLeod recalled, adding that frequent pauses after the readings and Communion were a trademark of Fr. Milligan’s celebrations. “He took his time with liturgy, and what was done was done perfectly.”

In distributing Communion, Fr. Milligan would very deliberately place the host in the communicant’s hands, hold their hands tightly for a moment and look deeply into their eyes before saying “The body of Christ.”

It was the same for other sacraments, which were always celebrated with deep reverence and vigor. During baptisms — which were always celebrated within Mass — Fr. Milligan would always enter the waters of the font with the candidate, rather than standing outside.

“Every sacrament was celebrated in the context of the Eucharist, because that’s where our life comes from,” Deacon McLeod said. “So he would say ‘Folks, it’s gonna get a little bit long sometimes, but that’s what liturgy is all about.’”

In addition to his love for people and the liturgy, Fr. Milligan was a great administrator who always listened to parishioners and staff, doing anything he could to build up the parish — first its spirituality, and then its physical needs, including fixing things that needed to be repaired, Deacon McLeod said.

One of Fr. Milligan’s favorite Gospel readings was the encounter of Jesus on the road to Emmaus in Luke, Deacon McLeod added, “because for him that Emmaus event was the top of his life: We recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.”

“I think the diocese has lost a great liturgist,” he added. “Priests are very good out there, I love them all dearly, but I don’t think you’ll ever find another Fr. Ron Milligan.”

Fr. Milligan was born Feb. 27, 1945, in Detroit. He attended Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit, and St. John’s Provincial Seminary, Plymouth Township, before being ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit on Jan. 22, 1972. After ordination, Fr. Milligan completed post-graduate studies at the University of Detroit, the University of Notre Dame and St. John’s Provincial Seminary, earning master’s degrees in both liturgy and criminal justice.

Fr. Milligan began his priestly service as associate pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Roseville (1972); and also served as associate pastor of St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish, Warren (1972-74); St. Peter Parish, Mount Clemens (1974-78); and Sacred Heart Parish, Dearborn.

He was given his first pastorate at St. Hilary Parish in Redford (1982-87); and later served as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Roseville (1987-96); before being named pastor of St. Ephrem Parish in 1996.

Fr. Milligan also served as vicar of the former Sterling Heights Vicariate; West Detroit Vicariate (1985-88); North Macomb Vicariate (1997-2000); and was vicar of the current Central Macomb Vicariate at the time of his death (2006-09, 2012-14). He also served as spiritual adviser to the Cursillo movement.

Fr. Milligan is survived by a sister, Marsha (Bill) Kulongowski; nieces and grand-nieces and nephews. A funeral Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron at St. Ephrem on Jan. 6. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield. Memorials to the St. Christine Soup Kitchen, 15317 Dacosta, Detroit; or Sacred Heart Major Seminary, 2701 W. Chicago Blvd., Detroit.