David Laurin Ricken was born November 9, 1952, to George William “Bill” and Bertha (Davis) Ricken in Dodge City, Kansas. He has an older brother, Mark, and a younger sister, Carol.
He attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Grade School in Dodge City, and St. Francis Seminary High School in Victoria, Kansas. He entered college at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, and graduated from Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. He conducted his theological studies for the Diocese of Pueblo at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, where he earned his graduate degree in sacred theology and completed his seminary formation.
He was ordained a priest on September 12, 1980, by the Bishop of Pueblo, Arthur Tafoya, at La Junta Catholic Parish in southeast Colorado. His first appointment was as associate pastor to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo. Five years later, he was named the administrator of Holy Rosary Parish in Pueblo and vice chancellor of the Diocese.
In 1987, he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he received his Licentiate degree (J.C.L.) in Canon Law (church law) in 1989. Upon returning to the Diocese, he was appointed vocation director and vicar for ministry formation. Three years later, he added diocesan chancellor to his responsibilities as well as assisting in the Diocesan Tribunal. He served in these positions until October 1, 1996, when he was nominated to be an official of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican where he served through December 1999.
On January 6, 2000, Father Ricken was ordained to the episcopacy for the Diocese of Cheyenne at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. The Mass of Welcome to the Diocese of Cheyenne took place on February 11, 2000, in Cheyenne. On September 26, 2001, Bishop Ricken succeeded Bishop Joseph Hart as the seventh leader of the Diocese of Cheyenne.
Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Ricken the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay on July 9, 2008. He was installed as bishop on August 28, 2008, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.
During Bishop Ricken's tenure in the Diocese of Cheyenne, he was responsible for the expansion of several elementary schools and the planning of a high school; he was also a prime mover in the establishment of Wyoming Catholic College.
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