Rev. Ramon Baez BIO

Biography of Reverend Ramon Baez, Pastor of Holy Family

Father Ramon Baez was born in Puerto Rico on September 15, 1968, to Mr. Ramon Baez and Mrs. Vanny Marrero. He has six siblings. They grew up close to the capital of San Juan (Bayamón) until he was nine. At age ten, he moved with his family to the mainland U.S. where they settled in Annandale, Virginia. As a kid, Fr. Ramon attended Saint Michael’s Catholic School and was an altar server during the time of Monsignor Scannell. After finishing his junior year at Fairfax High School, where he played the French Horn in the Marching Band and participated in Track & Field, Father Ramon returned for one more year of high school as a Senior in Puerto Rico at the Roosevelt Road Naval Station High School where he was the President of Student Government. Upon graduation in 1986, he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in Newport, Rhode Island, where he developed a love for sailing and joined the sailing team. A year later, he graduated from NAPS and began as a plebe at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He completed his four years as a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Science with a minor in English on May 30, 1991. 

It was on to the U.S. Fleet, where Father Ramon attended Flight School after a small stint at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) as a “Stash Ensign” awaiting a flight school date. He began flight school in Pensacola, Florida and then trained as a P-3C Orion Navigator at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, California. He earned his Wings of Gold in 1993 as a Naval Flight Officer. He then joined the VP-23 Seahawks Squadron in Brunswick, Maine on November 1994. He deployed with the squadron to Sigonella, Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. After the completion of his first deployment, he moved to Whidbey Island, Washington and served an additional two deployments with the VP-46 Black Knights Squadron to Japan, Oman, Bahrain, and the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia B.I.O.T.). His last tour as a lieutenant was in the remote, but beautiful country of Iceland, where he enjoyed the glaciers, the hot springs, and the Icelandic fish.

In 1999, Father Ramon left the military to pursue his vocation to the priesthood, completing his seminary studies at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary where he earned an B.A., an MDiv, and an M.A. He was ordained as a transitional deacon by Bishop Paul Loverde in May 2004 and was assigned as a deacon to the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More. Then, he was ordained as a priest on June 11, 2005 by Bishop Loverde at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More. His first parish was Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. In 2008, he was transferred to Sacred Heart Church in Winchester, Virginia. In 2009, he moved to Saint Leo the Great Catholic Church in Fairfax, Virginia. In 2014, he transferred to Our Lady of Angels in Woodbridge. His last parish as a parochial vicar was Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria where he served from 2016 until 2020.

He is the State Chaplain for the Catholic Daughters of America (CDA) an international organization composed of Catholic women who do a lot of great work for the Catholic Church. He enjoys his free time with family, who live in the Northern Virginia area, including his mother, who lives closely. He keeps in touch with many of his Naval Academy classmates, some of whom are either Flag Rank or have retired from the Navy. One of his male siblings also graduated from Annapolis. He enjoys traveling on cruises, biking, and visiting friends in other parts of the country.

If he has time, Father Ramon hopes to attend the next Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany in 2022. It was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.