Father Joe Dygert is the oldest of nine children. He and his family moved to Divide, Colorado, in 1995 after having lived in Indiana, Maine, and Ohio. He graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, and spent one year in law school prior to entering seminary at St. John Vianney in Denver. He was ordained a priest 2011. 

Fr. Joe joined the staff at St. Mary's in August 2017. His favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Aquinas, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. He enjoys prayer, reading, singing in the hallways, hiking, biking, basketball, and playing euchre.