Fr. Dan Tracy
Praised be Jesus Christ. I am Father Dan Tracy and I am grateful to now serve you as parochial administrator at St. Joseph in Rice Lake, Our Lady of Lourdes in Dobie, Holy Trinity in Haugen, and St. John the Evangelist in Birchwood. I look forward to getting to know you all. I’ve been asked to share a little bit about myself as this new journey begins.
I am originally from Superior, Wisconsin. My family is fourth generation parishioners of the Cathedral of Christ the King. My parents are Tom and Lynn. I have an older brother, James, who is married to my sister-in-law, Cassandra. They have a five-year-old boy James Thomas Tracy the Fourth (JT). My younger sister is Annie. She is married to my brother-in-law, Jacob, and they are expecting their first child in December. I have served the last three years as the associate pastor at Saint Patrick Parish in Hudson under the guidance of Father John Gerritts. My last three years there were a great experience, a great first assignment as I learned how to serve the people of God as a priest in our Diocese.
I come to Rice Lake with an open heart and an open mind. I want to learn from you, listen to you, be formed by you, and ultimately collaborate creatively in bringing the gospel and the goodness of Christ’s Church to every corner of our parish boundaries and beyond. I can share a little bit about myself personally. I completed high school in 2009 and I completed undergraduate studies in journalism and psychology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa in 2013. I completed graduate school studies in sport administration at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in 2015 and then I spent two years from 2015 to 2017 as a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, also known as FOCUS, serving at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
After my time in FOCUS, I discerned a call to enter the seminary, and I spent six years there, from 2017 to 2023 at St. Francis De Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. I was ordained on May 28th, 2023 along with Father Isaiah Schick and Father Julian Druffner. On May 29th, 2023 I offered my first Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral of Christ the King and the preacher at that Mass was Father Adam Laski. A great grace of this new assignment is that I get to collaborate with and learn from two great friends as priests and brothers, Father Adam and Father Isaiah.
On a personal note, I enjoy fishing. I also enjoy sports, having been a high school football coach prior to my time in seminary. I also enjoy serving particularly in the areas of marriage formation and preparation and Hispanic ministry. I have spent a month of my priestly ministry in Latin America and look forward to continuing the good work started by Father Ed Anderson and continued by Father Adam and Father Isaiah. You will get to know more about me in the months ahead. I look forward to getting to know you, getting to know how God is working in your life, and walking along the journey of faith with you, bringing Christ to you and allowing Christ to come to us. God bless you.