Father Robert E. Dyer, M.S., pastor of Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Atlanta, died Tuesday night of a heart attack. He was 55.

Father Dyer had been pastor at Most Blessed Sacrament since June of this year. Prior to that he had served as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle in Smyrna from June, 1977, until this past June.

He was a native of Belmont, Mass., and was ordained a LaSalette priest in the Shrine Church of the order in Ipswich, Mass., by Bishop McKenzie, an auxiliary bishop of the Boston archdiocese, on April 25, 1959.

After ordination he served as vocation director for the order and at St. Peter’s Church in London, England. He came to Atlanta in 1975 and served at St. Jude in Sandy Springs until 1977 when he was appointed pastor in Smyrna, where a new sanctuary was dedicated a year ago.

Ret Goettee, who chaired the building committee for the new worship space that was dedicated Nov. 23, 1985, said Father Dyer encouraged the lay people to become involved in the planning of the church with the result that ideas from the whole parish were included.

He was “very conscious of liturgical and artistic expression, everything he did was tasteful,” Mrs. Goettee said.

She also said he worked with the parish council throughout the years he served as pastor.

In an interview with “Community Happenings,” the monthly parish newspaper, Father Dyer commented , “Most of my priesthood has been in parishes and so most of my contact with people has been in that setting. I would say that being able to rejoice with the people in their happy moments and to enter their sorrow at sad moments – those experiences have always been very special to me.”

The funeral office of the dead for Father Dyer will be held Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle in Smyrna. The funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. in the Smyrna church. Burial will be in Hartford, Conn., at the cemetery of the LaSalette provincial headquarters.

Father Dyer is survived by a brother and sister.