Edmunds County Tribune -

Father Tim Cone began serving the Holy Cross Catholic Parish on July 1, 2022.

Fr. Cone was born in Fayetteville, N.C. but grew up in Rapid City. He graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 2005.

Fr. Tim said he knew when he was a boy that he was going to become a priest.

After high school he attended the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and graduated with a Bachelort of Music in Music Education in 2011. He said he planned to continue his studies to earn Masters and PhD degrees. He hoped to work with college students. He was the music director in the Yankton parish and was a camp music director in New York.

After college graduation Fr. Tim questioned his education plans. He realized that was not what he really wanted to do with his life. "I was running from God," he said.

Fr. Cone remembered the plan he had as a child. He became a seminarian for the Diocese of Sioux Falls in 2013 and did his seminary studies at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minn. He was ordained on May 31, 2019 in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls.

Originally he was at St. Michaels in Sioux Falls, followed by Holy Family and Holy Spirit parishes in Mitchell in 2020. In 2021, Fr. Tim moved to Aberdeen to serve Sacred Heart and St. Mary's parishes and the Newman Center at Northern State University.

After four years as a priest he says he has never been as happy and fulfilled as he is now with his mission in life.

Now Fr. Tim is getting to know parishioners in three towns - Ipswich, Roscoe and Leola. The weekend Mass schedule at this time is Saturday at 5 p.m. at St. Thomas in Roscoe, and Sunday at 9 a.m. at Holy Cross in Ipswich and 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Leola. There are also weekday Masses: Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Leola, Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Roscoe and Thursday at 11 a.m. and Friday at 9 a.m. in Ipswich.

Fr. Tim also enjoys spending time watching and taking photos of birds.