Fr. Ignatius Dodgen 10/16/39-12/31/22

Jerry Dean Dodgen was born to Justice James and Jessie Doreen (Ingram) Dodgen on October 16.1939 at Saint Ignatius hospital in Colfax Washington. He grew up alongside his sister Juanita, aunts, uncles, and many cousins in this small Eastern Washington town. He reposed in Sonora, CA on December 31, 2022 at the monastery that he (along with his community) was actively building.

Over the course of his life, Jerry was a disc jockey, soda jerk, construction worker, salesperson, singer, dancer, crafter (stringing “love beads,” candle making, beer brewing, and large, intricately designed and constructed yard displays were his favorites), elementary school teacher, public speaker, educator, financial planner, vice president, and, in his last twenty plus years, a monk and an Abbot. Throughout these years he was known as Jerry, JD, and, eventually, as Father Ignatius. He was a brother/brother in law, uncle, and the father of two children, the grandfather of four, and the spiritual brother, father, mentor, Godfather, and friend to countless others. He was a networker long before that was a known title.

In his early life, the classroom couldn’t contain Jerry so he’d venture out into the fields of Eastern Washington to sit and learn in nature. The stories of him skipping school are legend as are the tales of his leadership and community building skills as an adolescent. When attending Boy’s State during high school, the president of Pacific Lutheran University, where the conference was held, found him exploring campus and saw a spark in him, leading him to take Jerry under his wing and recruit him, causing Jerry to miss the vote for Governor (so he became Vice Governor) but drawing him to college at PLU where he rented and managed a donut shop, spun records for the local radio station, was involved in many student activities, and met Linda Blomquist, to whom he was married for 35 years.

Seeing a unique talent in him, the president gathered a cohort of faculty around Jerry who nurtured his love of teaching and loved him into seeing his full potential. Upon graduation he became a 4th grade teacher and taught in an innovative style where all subjects were taught together by creating a community within the classroom. Some students wrote the newspaper (writing, current events, history, etc), others managed the “sales” of snacks and lunch (math and community service), and his students practiced reading by teaching younger grades to read as if this was their job. Every week, they’d switch “jobs,” keeping the learning fresh and innovative. They had recess whenever they were ready and had coffee breaks instead of morning snack. Many of his students remained in touch with him throughout their lives and credit him with setting them on important trajectories.

Once again feeling like the classroom was too small for him, Jerry sold insurance with his cousin, Marv, in Yakima, WA then returned to Colfax to help his father develop and grow their family construction business. They worked side by side for a number of years while Jerry and Linda added two children to the family. Eventually, the knot of four Dodgens moved to Modesto, CA where Jerry became a financial planner and was deeply involved with mentoring, teaching, and leadership at Emanuel Lutheran Church.

Frequently the top national sales person with IDS, Jerry eventually moved into management, creating a thriving District office in Modesto, and eventually serving as a Vice President for AmEx. In addition to his vocation helping people live with financial freedom, he spoke extensively in churches and faith communities around the country, leading workshops that he created, titled “Money, Servant or Master.” After leaving IDS/AmEX, he did business consulting in China and in a tech start up before retiring.

The through line for all of his life was his deep passion for God. His work days began and ended with study of scripture and he continually acted on his love of God through his generosity of time, spirit, and resources with everyone around him. He craved depth of experience with God and committed himself to sharing this with others. He created sacred communities at church, in his office, and other unexpected places such as the sidewalk of the Modesto 4th of July parade where he’d host a hundred friends for a morning of coffee, sharing, togetherness, and love. Beloved communities gathered wherever he went.

He found his way to the Orthodox faith in his 60s and, in doing so, found his “home.” Tonsured a monk and named Father Ignatius, he developed the St. Silouan Skete in Ben Lomand, CA with Father Simeon and was influential in building the St. Lawrence Cathedral and Abbot’s Thrift in Felton, CA. When acreage in Sonora, CA was donated in 2013 he moved there, living alone and in a motor home for a number of years while hiking the property at all hours of the day and night, listening to the land and to what God had in mind for it. Over the course of the following 10 years, with the help of the Orthodox community, friends, and family who donated time, resources, money, and labor, he arranged the remodeling of the original home into a chapel, Trapeza, and dorm, directed the construction of individual cells for monks, coordinated the addition of 60 more acres of property, achieved water independence on the land, and cast a vision for a future for the St. Silouan Monastery. This work was done alongside his soul friend and brother, Father Maximos, as well as Father Simeon and Father Damien, who shared the vision of a monastery that would serve generations to come. People likely know many of these things about Father Ignatius but what they’ll really remember and cherish about him are his sparkly eyes and the way he’d ask “How are you…really?” then listen intently. They’ll remember his creative problem solving and his exacting directions. They’ll hold on to warm memories of his tours of the monastery and the skills that he passed on to them. They’ll remember the sound of the espresso maker, pumping out shots to bless every visitor who came to encounter God at the monastery that he was honored to be carrying God’s vision for. They’ll think of the prayers he’s prayed over them, the counsel he’s offered, the blessings he’s given and how, at the end of everything, he’d exclaim with thinking eyes, “There you have it!”

Father Ignatius is survived by his two children Doreen and Jeremy, their spouses, Thomas and Judy, and his grandchildren Connor, Kaija, Ethan, and Jade. Equally as importantly, he is survived and celebrated by chosen and spiritual families as deep as the sea and as wide as the sky. His generosity, wisdom, and lived experience has empowered and equipped countless people who always felt they were the only person in the room when with him. In this way, he lived out his truest calling…to be an image bearer inviting people into connection with God, complexity, and mystery.

He now resides with his Father God who loves him even more than any of us could. For that, and for all the rest, we are eternally grateful.

Donations, in honor of Father Ignatius, will go the the continuing work of St. Silouan Monastery and can be made via Venmo (preferred) @Fr-Ignatius-Dodgen or check mailed to:

St. Silouan’s Monastery

21665 Squabbletown Road

Sonora, CA