A Roman Catholic deacon on Long Island who ran a transitional home for men with a history of addiction or crime was stabbed to death on Friday by one of the residents he had devoted his life to serving, the police said.

The deacon, Patrick Logsdon, was the manager of Anthony House in Roosevelt, N.Y., in Nassau County. For more than 30 years, Mr. Logsdon, 70, took in up to nine men at a time, giving them a bed, home-cooked meals, help finding a job and, above all, a tough-love attitude, said James Pfeifer, 61, who worked at the house with Mr. Logsdon for four years.

The men, many of whom had spent decades in prison, were allowed to stay for six to eight weeks, during which time they were expected to behave with dignity and prove they were trying to get their lives back on track, Mr. Pfeifer said.

“He would say, ‘You can’t con the deacon,’” Mr. Pfeifer recalled. Mr. Logsdon, who was known as Deacon Pat, would walk around town to check up on residents and make sure they were not getting into trouble. “Guys would call him ‘the ninja deacon,’ and say, ‘Where did you come from?’”