Meet the Archdiocese’s Newest PriestsRead Time 37 min

Fr. Joel Kolb

• Hometown: West Bend
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Reading, playing tennis, golf, basketball, cards, board games and going camping.
• What has been the most rewarding part of seminary life? The daily sacramental life and the friendships.
• What is your favorite place to pray? Whatever chapel I’m closest to.
• Favorite Scripture Verse? John 14:23: “If man loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
• One word to describe your vocation? Gift.

Following God, Step by Step

Fr. Joel Kolb, right, is pictured with his parents, Jan and Greg, at the commissioning of the USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 27, 2019. Following his naval service, Fr. Kolb began formation for the priesthood at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. (Submitted photo)

When Fr. Joel Kolb looks back on his life thus far, he doesn’t see a clear, carefully plotted trajectory leading straight to the priesthood.

He sees a series of small, simple steps.

Growing up in West Bend, he and his three siblings were raised in a “solid, faithful” Catholic home. They attended Sunday Mass, recited the Serenity Prayer with their mom, Jan, before school and the Our Father with their dad, Greg, before bed. Conversations about faith in their house were not uncommon.

Those were the first steps.

As a high school student, Fr. Kolb thought often about his faith. He actually enjoyed Confirmation class. When he watched Fr. Nathan Reesman celebrate Mass at St. Frances Cabrini, he inferred from the pastor’s reverence that “something more was going on” upon that altar of sacrifice than what the human eye could readily see, and it piqued his interest. When making plans for college following his 2011 graduation from West Bend East High School, he knew he wanted a Catholic university.

Those were the next steps.

At Notre Dame, Fr. Kolb sang in his dorm choir, sponsored a friend for Confirmation and grew in his appreciation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation — “the twofold movement,” he said, “of understanding my sin more, but also understanding God’s mercy more.” He enlisted in the Naval ROTC, inspired by the military service of his father and great-grandfather, but also by the desire to grow in virtue and leadership — “to do something worthwhile,” he said.

More steps.

After graduation in May 2015, Fr. Kolb was commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer, assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) and deployed for almost eight months in the Arabian Gulf. As a Catholic lay leader trained by the Archdiocese of Military Services to conduct a weekly Liturgy of the Word in the absence of a Catholic priest, he spent every Sunday morning reading the Gospel and praying with the one other shipmate who showed up.

It was on one of those Sunday mornings that he took another step — a big one. For the first time, he said it out loud: “I want to be a priest.”

“Seeing a lot of people who tried to fill that God-sized hole in their heart with many things other than God elicited out of me a desire not only to serve, but to serve in a profound way,” said Fr. Kolb.

Soon after, he reached out to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Vocation Office and began seriously discerning the priesthood. Upon completion of his naval service in 2020, he enrolled at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee.

So many steps, none taken with a prescient understanding of the ultimate destination — and on May 16, when Fr. Kolb is finally ordained a priest, it won’t be the end of the journey. Far from it.

After all, there are so many more steps to take, and he’s ready to get started.

“There’s a quippy phrase that I heard a long time ago in my life: Don’t just talk about it, be about it,” he said. “I think that encapsulates a lot of what I’m feeling right now. I’m ready to put all of these things into practice and live a life conformed to Jesus Christ for the sake of others.”

His time in the military taught Fr. Kolb “the importance of uniting behind a common mission,” he said. “The Navy draws from all socioeconomic backgrounds, and in the midst of the differences and diversity, you have to work together and get along for the sake of the mission.”

He has a new mission now — “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) — and as he embarks on it, he carries that lesson with him.

“The Church is for everyone,” he said. “My classmates and I are so grateful for the entire local Church of Milwaukee, for the seminary, and we’re excited to serve God’s flock as he has given it to us here.”

By Colleen Jurkiewicz | May 14, 2026

Fr. Alex Becker

• Home Town: Port Washington
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Soccer, golf and singing. I love playing the piano, (but) I’m not great.
• What has been the most rewarding part of seminary life? “Prayer and brotherhood. To just have time with him in prayer, and being so close to these priests we look up to.”
• What is your favorite place to pray? “Straight up in church, going for walks with and praying rosaries, in my room with coffee, (or) being by water with him.”
• Favorite Scripture verse? Of many, the first he mentioned was Matthew 19:26. “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
• One word to describe your vocation? Joy.

From Disney Dreams to God’s Call

Fr. Alex Becker, right, is pictured with Fr. Brady Gagne of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee while serving at a seminary event. Fr. Becker said the friendships and fraternity formed in seminary have been among the greatest gifts of priestly formation. (Submitted photo)

From the Magic Kingdom to building God’s kingdom, the twists and turns of Fr. Alex Becker’s journey to the priesthood could match or surpass the rides he helped design during his co-op working at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Yet he proves that a ride of abandonment can bring a fairy tale of joy. His upbringing came through religious education and public school, yet he said his faith development encompassed true but inconsistent encounters with God.

“I had a very low understanding of what it means to be a Christian,” he said.
That inconsistency continued as he ventured between the party scene of UW-Madison and St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center right by the UW campus where he was studying mechanical engineering. “I wanted to party and I didn’t really want to follow God completely with my whole heart, unfortunately. And so, I kind of pushed aside following God and being faithful to him,” he admitted.

Even as he interned at Disney World, he said he felt empty and saw the need to return to Mass at St. Paul’s.

“The priest had a homily, and I remember the gist. ‘The gospel is Jesus teaching us how to pray. He says,

“Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” Why don’t we take our Lord at his words, which are trustworthy?’” said Fr. Becker of the priest’s words.

“‘Give him all these things. Let him speak to you. Let him give you what you need. Then say, “But Lord, let your will be done. Let your will be done in my life.”’”
The back-and-forth ride of his discernment led him to give St. Paul’s a year of his postgraduate life, but Fr. Becker confessed that the fear of walking away from everything in his life initially scared him from the priesthood. Disney World was enticing him with a job opportunity.

“I was a shoe-in. (My former boss) even told me, ‘You are going to get this. I’m so excited that you’re going to have a full-time job for the team,’” Fr. Becker said. God had other plans. “I ended up not getting the job.”

“I was like, ‘What?’ I went to adoration. Tears are coming down my face at this point,” he admitted. “I was at a crossroads.”
So he gave Christ on the cross a one-year commitment to the seminary, where a vocational director asked him what his journey meant.

“I said, ‘I just want to suffer with Jesus. Because he suffered so much for me. I just want to be him in this world,’” he said, hearing Christ respond internally, “You are capable of setting that aside, so that you may be conformed to me (and) walk with me side by side in the field, and we’re going to sow and reap.”
As he prays over his ordination day, day one of sowing and reaping, he recognizes his redemptive story of God’s glory stands as the latest in a 2,000-year chain of succession fueled by the Holy Spirit, and hands first laid upon the priesthood of St. Peter by Jesus Christ.

“We’ve been given the same spirit that guided Jesus Christ,” Fr. Becker said about becoming the latest part of a 2,000-year ride designed by the ultimate engineer of humankind.

“I’m going to be anointed by a bishop. If we touch back through every generation of bishops that have anointed him and his hands and have made him a bishop, they go all the way back to the apostles who would have been made priests from Jesus Christ. It’s like those exact same hands are going to be asking the Holy Spirit to make me a priest. And as he breathed on them, the same breath of life is going to be breathed into me.”

By Jay Sorgi | May 14, 2026

Fr. Peter Danner

• Home parish: St. Francis Borgia, Cedarburg
• Training parish: St. Joseph, Big Bend
• Assigned parish: St. John Vianney, Brookfield
• What has been the most rewarding part of seminary life? “The fraternity here is so good. The constant support and levity of being around guys who are doing the same thing that you are, giving their lives up for Christ and for his church.”
• What is your favorite place to pray? St. Francis Borgia’s south church in the perpetual adoration chapel.
• Favorite Scripture verse? “Jesus’ discourse with his disciples in John 15. ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, remains in me, will bear much fruit.’ Just the closeness with Christ (and) that also happens to be the archbishop’s motto.”
• One word to describe your vocation? “Gift.”
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Singing, piano, self-taught on guitar.

Following a Call Heard Early

Fr. Peter Danner baptizes a child during the Easter season at his teaching parish, St. Joseph, Big Bend. Danner said experiences in parish ministry and the support of fellow seminarians have strengthened his call to serve the Church as a priest. (Submitted photo)

Fr. Peter Danner doesn’t recollect it, but as he draws closer to his ordination, family members are reminding him that he once sat in the back of his family car as a kid and made two declarations to his mother.

It’s one of many reminders he’s receiving that the priesthood was seemingly always part of his future.

“I just kind of told her very matter-of-factly, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be a priest, and I’m going to drive a green Hummer,’” Fr. Danner said.

“I’m on my way to one of those. I don’t know if I really want a green Hummer.”

He could always rent a green Hummer if he wants, but the first declaration is now a lifelong commitment.
Born in West Bend, Fr. Danner and his parents, sister and two brothers moved to Grafton. He regularly attended St. Francis Borgia in Cedarburg but attended public school.

While voting recently, his fourth-grade teacher bumped into him and noticed him wearing his deacon’s clerics.

“She was like, ‘Oh, Peter, you’re going to become a priest?’ You know, you told me you were going to do that in fourth grade,’” Fr. Danner said.

He said that he wasn’t as open about these thoughts about the priesthood in middle and high school, and also was understanding other ways that his adulthood might differ from his back-of-the-car and classroom childhood declaration.

“You’re transitioning into the world of being an adult, so you’re just thinking about the way that the culture thinks, just like everybody around you,” he said. “You’re just thinking about what adulthood looks like for everybody, and for most people, it does not look like the priesthood.”

The inkling toward holy orders stayed with him, particularly as he entered UWM to study music, with plans of being a choir teacher. Much of his time was spent at the campus’ Newman Center and at the John Paul II house near St. Robert  in Shorewood, a residence for men discerning or entering the seminary.

“They had these men’s dinners where guys would come into the JPII house. Priests would get to know possible guys who might be interested in entering seminary at that point,” he said.

“You don’t really know what it looks like to properly discern that unless there’s people around eliciting it out of you, showing you how it’s done, helping you to parse through these things, figure out whether God is calling you to it, and just seeing it work in other people’s lives. I think if you are called to it, it helps you to recognize it in yourself, and if you’re not called to it, it’s just an edifying witness as well.”

Continued experiences at the Newman Center further cemented his calling, as he found himself continually desiring to help friends build their faith lives and recognizing how he saw he was called to preach truth when in moments of decision.

“Where do you want to stand when things aren’t going well? Where’s your place?” he said. “I think very quickly I (saw) I want to be a minister of the Church.”
He entered two years of college seminary in Winona, Minnesota, before returning to Milwaukee at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. He sees how his home turf of Milwaukee has continually served as the fertile soil for his priesthood to grow.

“It’s amazing to be in seminary in my home diocese,” he said. “There’s something really amazing about the fact that my teaching parish is 20 minutes away from my first assignment.”

As he prepares for that assignment at St. John Vianney in Brookfield, he sees continual reassurance of God staying near as he enters the priesthood.
“It’s reassuring of the closeness of God in a special way to those who he’s ordained to serve in his Church.”

By Karen Mahoney | May 14, 2026

Fr. Nicholas Waddell

• Hometown: New Berlin
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love to visit used bookstores, drink coffee, play chess and talk with friends.
• What has been the most rewarding part of seminary life? I’ve learned how much God loves me. So much of priestly formation is learning to allow God to love you as you are.
• What is your favorite place to pray? I love to pray in nature while walking and in beautiful churches.
• Favorite Scripture passage? Psalm 2:1-2. “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The Kings of the earth take their stand against the Lord and his Anointed One.” Even when we scheme and plot, all is vanity in the eyes of God.
• One word to describe your vocation? Gift.

A Vocation Rooted in Family Faith

Fr. Nicholas Waddell, left, receives the Book of the Gospels from Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob during his ordination to the transitional diaconate. Serving beside him is his brother, Patrick Waddell, who is studying for the priesthood at Immaculate Heart of Mary College Seminary. (Submitted photo)

Many Catholic families are blessed to have a son called to the priesthood, but Jim and Deneen Waddell were doubly blessed when two of their five children were called to the same vocation. Fr. Nicholas Waddell will be ordained a priest May 16, and his brother, Patrick, is a senior in the college program at Immaculate Heart of Mary College Seminary.

Born and raised in New Berlin, Fr. Waddell was baptized at St. Anthony of Padua Parish and attended there for several years before attending St. John the Evangelist for ten years, returning to St. Anthony in eighth grade.

“I was homeschooled for the first half of high school and later attended Trinity Academy in Pewaukee,” he said.

Following high school, Fr. Waddell attended the University of Mary, studying politics. After graduation, he taught in the South Bronx with Seton Teaching Fellows, an inner-city and evangelization program.

While raised in a solid Catholic family that attended Mass regularly, prayed the daily Rosary, and sent him to Catholic schools, Fr. Waddell said he became distracted in high school by the false gods of our culture. He felt a strong desire to enter the priesthood while serving as a missionary in New York. His discernment to the priesthood was an obvious result of the faith-filled nurturing he received at home.

“I have been blessed with many examples of faith in my life. My parents were the first,” Fr. Waddell said. “My aunt was also a great influence. She didn’t care whether people thought she was ‘out of step with the times.’ She loved Jesus and wanted to be faithful to him at all costs. My time at the University of Mary was also incredibly formative. When I arrived, Msgr. Shea addressed all the students, and said, ‘If you can’t give yourself away in love, you’ll be miserable the rest of your life.’ That stuck with me. Catholicism is not a puzzle to be figured out or a math problem to be endured, but an adventure, a journey of great romance.”

Although he knew his family would support him in becoming a priest, his delivery could have been a bit more polished.

“I texted a picture of the seminary application to my mom and said, ‘Coming back in February to interview for seminary,’” he said. “My mom had some questions, but I nailed her interview.

For the past four years, Fr. Waddell has served St. Frances Cabrini and Immaculate Conception/St. Mary in West Bend as his training parish. Following his ordination, he will serve Holy Family in Fond du Lac. One of the things he hopes to accomplish in his vocation as a priest is to restore the dignity of language.

“There are so many buzzwords and slogans that are thrown around that mystify and confuse. Language is a privileged way of being with each other as humans,” he explained. “The Bible is a collection of books God wrote to tell us how much he loves us. When language is corrupted, the goodness of God becomes obscured. I hope through my teaching that the beauty of language can be recovered so people may encounter the living God who saves.”

Aside from the usual nerves and trepidation that accompany a new vocation, Fr. Waddell understands that he is his greatest challenge.

“I think about getting out of my own way and not viewing the parish as a project or problem to be fixed. It is important to let God be in control, and that I am his minister,” he said. “I think that whenever we think that the call or vocation is a product of our genius, talents, or our unworthiness, it’s prideful. But when we receive it as a gift, our unworthiness doesn’t matter, and God will make us worthy and configure us to be priests. He gives us the gift of the priesthood.

By Karen Mahoney | May 14, 2026

Fr. Redmond Tuttle

• Hometown: Milwaukee
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Spending time with family and friends and doing anything outside.
• What has been the most rewarding part of seminary life? Getting to know the priests of the archdiocese and growing close to other young Catholic men and seminarians has been very life-giving.
• What is your favorite place to pray? In front of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Favorite Scripture passage? Psalm 42:7. Deep is calling on deep, in the roar of waters; your torrents and all your waves swept over me.” Between the beginning and end of the psalm, where the psalmist is yearning and cast down, this verse is the transition where the psalmist is rejoicing in the midst of God’s action in his life.
• One word to describe your vocation? Excited.

Seeking More, Finding Christ

Fr. Redmond Tuttle proclaims the Gospel during a liturgy at Holy Family, Fond du Lac, where he has served as a teaching parish deacon during his years at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. Following his ordination May 16, he will serve St. James, Mukwonago; St. Peter, East Troy; and St. Theresa, Eagle. (Submitted photo)

From his early youth, Father Redmond Tuttle felt God tug at his heart, prompting him to consider the priesthood. That tug persisted as he entered Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, and as he entered adulthood. Throughout his quest to understand this call from God, he became acquainted with several priests and was deeply moved by their lives and their examples of sacrifice. He considered entering the seminary at various times but was torn by other interests. Despite that, the gentle tugging continued.

As the eldest of eight children of Tom and Kate Tuttle, he credits his parents with instilling in him and his four sisters and three brothers a model of holiness.

“We grew up going to St. Anthony of Padua in Milwaukee, and my parents set a great example, along with my teachers and the priests who came over for dinner,” he said.

In high school, Fr. Tuttle enjoyed participating in football, baseball and rugby. Later, after graduating in 2016, he ran a few businesses but always knew in his heart that there was something more.

“I ran small boat businesses in Milwaukee, Chicago, Michigan and Texas for five years before I entered the seminary,” he explained. “I always desired more, such as direct service to others and a fuller life structured around God.”

After returning to Milwaukee, Fr. Tuttle lived at the St. John Paul II house for a year. The JPII House offers young adult Catholic men the opportunity to live in Christian community, encounter diocesan priestly life and discern God’s call. The house fosters community through common prayer, regularly scheduled community nights, formation and fraternity.

“The Holy Hour every morning changed my life,” he said. “There is no better way to start the day than staring at God, conversing in silence.”

Fr. Tuttle applied to Saint Francis de Sales Seminary and, for the first time in his life, he felt certain about his vocation and desire for the priesthood. Some of his friends and family were not surprised by his decision, while others had a different reaction.

“Some called it (my vocation) a long time ago,” he said. “Others thought it was crazy.”

Throughout his years in the seminary and the last four in his teaching parish, Holy Family, Fond du Lac, Fr. Tuttle has learned to rely more on God than on himself, to be patient, trusting that God will help him work through anything, and to be as open as possible to his grace. When he has some precious free moments, Fr. Tuttle enjoys hunting and playing music.

“But not at the same time,” he quipped.

As this last week leads up to his ordination, a natural fear and sense of unworthiness are expected among those preparing to dedicate their lives to Christ. For Fr. Tuttle, these feelings are also present, but he yields to God.

“It isn’t about me, but rather, about him,” he explained. “I am my greatest challenge.”

Following his May 16 ordination, he will be serving St. James, Mukwonago; St. Peter, East Troy; and St. Theresa, Eagle.

“In my new role as priest, I hope to give as much glory to God as humanly possible,” said Fr. Tuttle. “I look forward to getting to know the people of the Body of Christ.”

By Karen Mahoney | May 14, 2026