Father Dionicio ‘Max’ Tzul Lacan, FMM, passed away at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton on Feb. 17, 2026, from aggressive leukemia. Fr. Max was born in Guatemala on February 14, 1965. He was ordained a priest on April 4, 1996. He served in the diocese at Immaculate Conception Church in Colton from July 2021 to June 2025. Immaculate Conception Church held a Funeral Mass for Fr. Max on March 4 celebrated by Bishop Alberto Rojas, concelebrated by Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes, Monsignor Gerard Lopez, many diocesan priests and visiting FMM priests.
Below is a letter from Fr. Max's religious order:
We, the missionaries of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary, share with the Diocese of San Bernardino the loss of one of our missionaries, Fr Max Tzul FMM.
Fr. Max passed away today, Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, in San Bernardino, California, from aggressive leukemia. He was in San Bernardino for a brief visit when the disease struck him severely.
Fr. Max was born in Guatemala on February 14, 1965. He made his Perpetual Incorporation into the Missionary Fraternity of Mary on October 28, 1994. He was ordained a priest on April 4, 1996.
His ministry in US.
Fr. Max served in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at Holy Family Parish, Fond du Lac, from 2011 to January 2018, and at the parishes of St. Raphael, Prince of Peace, and St. Vincent de Paul from February 2018 to June 2021.
After Milwaukee, his assignment was the Diocese of San Bernardino, where he served from July 2021 until June 2025 in the Immaculate Conception Parish in Colton, CA.
He recently received an assignment from the General Moderator of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary to serve in the Diocese of Chitré, Panama, where he would have to begin his ministry in early April 2026. Still, the call to God's presence came before his new mission.
We thank the Diocese of San Bernardino for its support and for the welcome it gave him as he carried out his ministry.
"Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him."