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Deacon Sam Taub dies

Catholic Herald Staff Report

Deacon Samuel M. Taub died Nov. 17 at the age of 93.

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Deacon
Samuel M. Taub
, one of the longest serving deacons in the
Arlington Diocese, died Nov. 17 at his McLean home surrounded
by family. He was 93.

The wake service will be held at the Cathedral of St. Thomas
More in Arlington on Friday, Nov. 21, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8
p.m. The funeral Mass will be offered at the Cathedral on
Saturday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m.

“Deacon Sam Taub was a font of wisdom and a great source of
encouragement to me in my efforts to help prepare candidates
for their future ministry as deacons,” said Father Thomas P.
Ferguson, director of diaconate formation. “He was exactly
what a deacon is called to be – an icon of Christ the
Servant.”

Taub was born July 16, 1921, in Milwaukee, Wis., and earned a
bachelor’s in history from the University of Wisconsin at
Madison.

While at Wisconsin, he enrolled in the V-12 program, which
trained officers for combat duty during World War II. After
graduating from the program he served in the U.S. Marine
Corps in Europe and the Pacific, retiring as a colonel in
1969.

Taub married Phyllis Bruscoe in December 1944 before being
deployed overseas. They raised four children.

When the permanent diaconate program was restored by Pope
Paul VI in 1968, Taub applied for admission to diaconate
training to Richmond Bishop John J. Russell. He was accepted
and enrolled at the Josephite Seminary in Washington in 1970.

Taub was one of five deacons ordained in 1973. He was
ordained by Bishop Russell May 31 at St. Thomas More Church
in Arlington and was assigned to St. Ann Church in Arlington.
The Diocese of Arlington was formed in 1974.

In addition to his diaconate duties, Taub served as a staff
assistant to the Bishop’s Committee on the Diaconate for the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the precursor to the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In 1984, Deacon Taub became the committee’s executive
director. He served in that capacity until 1988. In 1992, the
general secretariat asked Deacon Taub to once again serve as
executive director, which he did, serving for another four
years.

In 1994, he was assigned as permanent deacon at the Cathedral
of St. Thomas More in Arlington.

He served as a member of the Diaconal Council for many years.

Although he technically retired from active ministry in June
2005, he
continued to assist at the cathedral for many years.
He
would rise every morning at 4:30 a.m. and prepare for the
day. He drove from his McLean home to unlock the cathedral
doors at 6 a.m.

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