We are delighted to announce that Fr. Billy J. Dodge was named PASTOR of Roncalli Newman Parish on July 1, 2019!  

I was raised in the country several miles outside the small town of Ellsworth, WI and belonged to the country parish of St. Mary’s, Big River. My immediate family includes my parents Randy and Mary - a carpenter and homemaker respectively - and my younger brother Dustin who works as an Executive Team Leader for Target in Red Wing, MN. With cowboy names like Billy and Dustin Dodge it is fitting we grew up raising and riding horses, though we eventually exchanged the horses for four-wheelers. 

My education began at St. Francis Catholic elementary in Ellsworth, and I graduated from Ellsworth High School in 2005. Upon graduating from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN in 2009 with majors in psychology and philosophy I was hired as a campus minister for St. Thomas. I thoroughly enjoyed my two years as a campus minister, and through this ministry felt called to pursue priesthood. Subsequently, I was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of La Crosse and sent to the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, MN. During my four years of seminary studies I interned at the tri-parish cluster of Sacred Heart in Elmwood, Sacred Heart in Spring Valley, and St. Luke in Boyceville, WI under the supervision of Fr. Kevin Louis and Deacon Kevin Ray. 

I enjoy traveling, biking, four-wheeling, snowmobiling, jet-skiing, tennis, racquetball, dancing, frisbee golf, card games - especially euchre, and other games. Personally rewarding has been my work with the Restorative Justice Project and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. One of my favorite Scripture passages is when Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b). Amen!