BASKING RIDGE — The best sermon Deacon Thomas H. Klaas preached was expressed through his life, his son, Paul, said, despite it being cut short by illness.
“His job was to glorify God in the final year of his life,” Paul Klaas said at a funeral Mass for his father at St. James Church Jan. 22. “The last 12 months of his battle with cancer was an inspiring chapter for myself and my family.
“My father carried himself like a victor,” Klaas also said in a moving, 20-minute eulogy for his father, who died Jan. 15 of brain cancer. He was 66.
Clergy, fellow deacons and their wives, friends, family and parishioners celebrated in song and prayer to remember the man nicknamed “TK” and known for his liturgical and musical talents, his homilies, stories and more.
Paul Klaas, a former Navy SEAL who is a senior chief petty officer, paused and became emotional several times during his tribute to his father. He recited Scripture verses to commemorate Deacon Klaas, who, he said, also enjoyed simple things in life: playing sports, singing, playing the guitar, getting to know people, traveling and more.
He was a “cowboy at heart,” said Paul Klaas, tracing his father’s roots from a small town where he grew up in Idaho; to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he worked, to the Basking Ridge area, where he settled with his wife, Susan, and their children. He said he always embraced challenges as if they were opportunities.
More importantly, Klaas said, his father, who was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Emeritus Paul G. Bootkoski in 2010, always scheduled time for daily prayer. Faith was paramount in his father’s life. “He was one of the few people in my life who prayed for me, and he got all of you to pray for me as well,” he said.
His son also remembered Deacon Klaas during struggles, but while the deacon always feared the Lord, he also turned to him as well.
“I would catch him praying,” Paul Klaas said, and then pausing. “He really believed in God. He loved God.”
Msgr. Sylvester J. Cronin, pastor, St. James Parish, who presided at the Mass and gave the homily, said Deacon Klaas served that faith community extraordinarily well.
“He was the servant who cooperated with the Lord to fill the endless yearning of the soul,” Msgr. Cronin said. “He had a positive impact within each branch on the vine, and thus he was the humble servant in the lord’s vineyard.”
Msgr. Cronin recalled a Saturday afternoon more than a year ago when Deacon Klaas and his wife told him and the clergy of the parish about his cancer.
“Tom said at one point, ‘The most distressing thing about this diagnosis is that I will have to leave my family, but I am looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face,’” Msgr. Cronin recalled.
“I then said, ‘I pray someday to have your faith Tom,’ and we all began to reach for the Kleenex.”
Msgr. Cronin and Paul Klaas said Deacon Klaas would go the extra mile for his family, his fellow parishioners, his neighbors — just about anyone who crossed his path.
Jane Herron, the church sacristan, recalled Deacon Klaas performing a baptism several months before his death.
“He was in the ravages of the brain cancer,” she said, “and he just brought such joy to this family.
“That was Deacon Tom. He viewed his vocation as a mission, and it brought him joy. What he really did was show us how to suffer.”
Parishioner Jack Cooney recalled telling the deacon, “You know ‘TK,’ maybe for all this illness you have had to go through, you have instilled prayer in people’s lives.’
“He had a prayer chain of the entire parish,” added Cooney, who was best friends with Deacon Klaas for 25 years; the two served the parish in music ministry.
A crucifix and a book of the Gospels were placed on Deacon Klaas’ casket at the beginning of Mass, with a group of floral bouquets situated in the church vestibule. Before the recessional, Msgr. Cronin incensed and blessed the casket holding Deacon Klaas’ remains.
Mourners and those who knew him saw in Deacon Klaas was an exemplary Catholic. “My father’s legacy is one primarily of faith in Jesus Christ,” Paul Klaas said.
That legacy continues to shine on in the congregation, he added, at one point expressing gratitude for the consoling messages of families and friends whom his father affected during his ministry.
“We love you dad,” Paul Klaas said. “We look forward to spending eternity with you in service and worship to Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior.”
Deacon Klaas was born in Jerome, Idaho, to Mary Jane and Harold Klaas.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Idaho.
Deacon Klass was a senior learning consultant with Aetna CVS Health, where he had a successful career for 24 years. He married Susan Klaas June 15, 2002, blending a family of six children.
At St. James, he was active in youth ministry.
He is is preceded in death by his parents. He is is survived by his wife, Susan; his son, Paul Klaas, and his wife Crystal; his son Philip Klaas; his daughter, Marissa Valentine (Klaas) and her husband, Jacob; his stepson Curtis Triece and his wife, Tina; his stepdaughter Kelly Ehrenberger (Triece) and her husband, Joseph; his stepdaughter Jackie Triece; his grandchildren Declan, Jude, Silas, Emma and Preston; his siblings, Orice Klaas; Kaline (Constance) Klaas, Timothy Klaas, Mary Vogel and her husband, Leon; Theodore Klaas and his wife, Beth; Martha Naccarato and her husband, Shawn, and Theresa Exon and her husband, Dan; and his many nieces and nephews.
Arrangements were handled by Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home Inc., Basking Ridge.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Deacon Klaas’ memory to the National Brain Tumor Society.