Br. John Dodd, CSV, is celebrating his fiftieth year as a Viatorian. Like several Viatorians, Br. Dodd comes from Springfield, IL, where he spent his high school years and came to know the Viatorian brothers and priests at Cathedral Boys High School. Br. Dodd, like his classmate Fr. Robert Erickson, CSV, was impressed by his teachers and was drawn to enter the community after high school graduation in 1958. After he had completed his novitiate year in Arlington Heights, Br. Dodd attended Loyola University in Chicago where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He then pursued graduate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., earning a Master of Business Administration degree in management. Thus, Br. Dodd became well prepared for a lifelong career in financial management.

In 1964, he began his high school ministry by teaching for one year at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights. The next year he was assigned to work in the Diocese of Peoria, first as teacher and treasurer at Spalding Institute and later as the financial officer for the Peoria Area Catholic High School Board, whose oversight included Spalding Institute, Academy of Our Lady, and Bergen High School. In 1972, Br. Dodd returned to Saint Viator High School as its business manager, a position he held for two years before becoming provincial treasurer for the Clerics of St. Viator for the following twenty years. During this time, he became known for the good stewardship and management of the community’s material resources. His other tasks included maintaining the grounds and buildings of the community in Arlington Heights in good condition and in supervising the construction of the province’s retirement wing.