web1_20160304_110203.jpg

415 PRO Hardware to offer new services to Back Mountain residents in April; business taking over former Agway building

web1_TTL030516fire2.jpg

Fire causes severe damage to Lehman Township home

<p>ASHLEY &#8212; Sitting in his office in the rectory of St. Leo/Holy Rosary Parish in Ashley, the Rev. Vincent &#8220;Father Vinny&#8221; Dang is happy.</p><p>He&#8217;s happy the sun is shining, happy he put two feet on the ground and happy that his faithful love him.</p><p>From his beginning as an assistant priest at St. Mary&#8217;s Church of the Immaculate Conception, 134 S. Washington St., Wilkes-Barre, to pastor of St. Leo/Holy Rosary, 33 Manhattan St., Ashley, Dang has made many friends. So much so that parishioners from past churches have followed his pastoral assignments.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s amazing when they come,&#8221; Dang said.</p><p>Bob and Mary Halter, of Sugar Notch, who have known the vibrant priest for &#8220;close to 15 years,&#8221; are glad Dang is closer to them now that that he&#8217;s in Ashley.</p><p>When Dang was transferred to St. Frances Cabrini Church, Kingston Township, from Holy Family Church in Sugar Notch, the Halters as well as &#8220;six or seven other families&#8221; went to see him weekly.</p><p>&#8220;We were there at his first Mass (at St. Francis Cabrini), which was a weekday, &#8221; Mary said.</p><p>The Halters said you could hear him when he would take walks around the neighborhood.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;d be singing,&#8221; Bob said.</p><p>Richard Youngblood, 92, also of Sugar Notch, remembers the walks.</p><p>&#8220;(We live across from the rectory) he used to sit on the porch and talk to me and my wife,&#8221; Youngblood said. &#8220;He knows everybody by name.&#8221;</p><p>The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, takes great pride in having Dang as part of the diocese in Scranton.</p><p>&#8220;It is gratifying to see people respond to him,&#8221; Bambera said in an email to the Times Leader. &#8220;He is another example of how our priests across the Diocese serve with dedication and thus help people to grow in faith.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Complicated Journey</strong></p><p>&#8220;I have to say, American people are very friendly,&#8221; Dang said.</p><p>He was born Oct. 8, 1961, to Ky Huu Dang and Hai Thi Vo &#8212; women do not assume the male surname in Vietnam &#8212; the second of 10 children. His family lived next to the church where they would go to Mass every day.</p><p>In seventh grade, the future priest went to a seminary in Vietnam before the communist government closed it in the late 70s. Following high school, he went to Can Tho University, which led him on his path to becoming a high school teacher.</p><p>Dang traveled to Malaysia as a refugee and was sent for six months to a refugee camp, where he was interviewed by a delegation made up of United States and United Nations officials.</p><p>Before arriving in the United States, another stop in the Philippines helped him learn the American lifestyle. The Diocese of Scranton&#8217;s Catholic Social Services sponsored Dang&#8217;s immigration to the area, beginning his life in Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;He was welcomed through the resettlement program operated by Catholic Social Services, and he has flourished here and is a great benefit to our church,&#8221; Bambera said.</p><p>Dang enrolled in St. Pius X Seminary, Dalton, for three years, and continued his studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, New Jersey, where he spent four years. In November 1994, Dang became a full-time deacon at St. Mary&#8217;s of the Immaculate Conception. He was ordained a priest on June 24, 1995, at the church.</p><p>Dang spent a year at Epiphany Church, Sayre, before being transferred back to St. Mary&#8217;s in 1996, where he remained until being reassigned as a pastor to Holy Family and St. Charles Borromeo churches in July 2003. He spent five years at St. Frances Cabrini Church and then was assigned to Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Hanover Township, and St. Aloysius in Wilkes-Barre. In late 2014, he landed at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary.</p><p>Claiming the &#8220;parish is his family,&#8221; Dang says he no plans to go back to Vietnam, except for the month-long vacations he takes in the summer.</p><p>&#8220;This is my home,&#8221; Dang said. &#8220;For the last 30 years, I&#8217;ve been in America.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Humble Individual</strong></p><p>He&#8217;s amazed at the people who accept him for who he is. Dang said people welcome him &#8220;100 percent&#8221; wherever he goes on his journey, but he never expected them to follow him.</p><p>&#8220;Who am I (that people would follow me)?&#8221; he asked.</p><p>Bambera also praised Dang&#8217;s work ethic as a reason he connects with parishioners.</p><p>&#8220;He is a great example of the blessing of immigrants who come to this land with a commitment to work hard in support of its ultimate values and to take their rightful place in the great tapestry of life that makes the United States such a blessed country,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The priest from Vietnam goes out of his way to connect with the faithful, greeting them before or after Mass and taking time to know and &#8220;be inspired&#8221; by them.</p><p>&#8220;People want to see me, I make sure I call back,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Youngblood isn&#8217;t surprised that he&#8217;s so sociable &#8212; the Halters said Dang used to shovel snow at Holy Family and now he flips potato pancakes at the summer festivals. The Halters also recalled a time when, after the weekend Masses were over, Dang got in his car and travelled to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville &#8212; an hour drive &#8212; because he heard of a medical emergency.</p><p>&#8220;He stayed with us,&#8221; Mary recalled.</p><p>Dang tries to make Mass a &#8220;celebration&#8221; to keep it from becoming &#8220;routine&#8221; for his parishioners.</p><p>&#8220;I say it (the Mass) 100 percent from my soul,&#8221; Dang said. &#8220;People see that.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang01-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Father Vincent &#8220;Father Vinny&#8221; Dang delivers his sermon during Feb. 27 Mass at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang01-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Father Vincent &#8220;Father Vinny&#8221; Dang delivers his sermon during Feb. 27 Mass at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang02-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Father Dang talks with parishioners before Mass on Feb. 27 at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang02-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Father Dang talks with parishioners before Mass on Feb. 27 at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang03-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Father Dang greets Barb and Jeff Tomczak, of Sugar Notch, before Feb. 27&#8217;s Mass at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_fatherdang03-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Father Dang greets Barb and Jeff Tomczak, of Sugar Notch, before Feb. 27&#8217;s Mass at St. Leo&#8217;s/Holy Rosary Church in Ashley. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

30 years after he came to America, Catholic priest from Vietnam has devoted following