Former archdeacon of the Anglican Church, the Ven. Thomas Dyson, has died after a brief illness.

Archdeacon Dyson, who was 84, succumbed to a brief illness on Christmas Eve. A memorial service will take place at the Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday January 2.

''My husband had a good life actually, and the service we're having is a celebration of his life," said Lucette Dyson last night.

The popular priest was a Hebrew scholar and served as archdeacon for 12 years before retiring in 1995 to end a career that spanned 38 years.

Upon retirement he was given the title archdeacon emeritus.

He served as bishop of Bermuda in an acting capacity on several occasions, and in 1991 was awarded an OBE.

Prior to coming to Bermuda, he served as Vicar of St. Peter's in East Oxford, England, and Assistant Chaplain at Edmund Hall in Oxford. He had also served as chaplain in the Royal Navy.

In Bermuda Archdeacon Dyson was vicar of St. Mary's Church, Warwick for more than 20 years and also served as chaplain to the Bermuda Sailors Home, the Bermuda Sea Cadets and the Port of Hamilton, as well as the church's warden of lay readers.

"I think the scholarly side of him was appreciated by many Bermudians," Mrs. Dyson said. "Whenever someone wanted to know something he was the one to tell them."

The Reverend Canon James Francis agreed. "My memory of him was that he was a very gentle priest for the church and was available - whenever you needed him, he would find the time to talk to you," he said.

"He was a giant of a man, a scholar but at the same time preached the kind of sermon princes and paupers could understand. He was not pretentious - a delightful priest. I certainly have him as one of my role models in terms of his being a gentle priest, a concerned priest and for his ability to deliver sometimes difficult topics in a simple way so the layperson could understand."