Will was born and raised in Kingman, Arizona to Kathy & John Roddy. He is the oldest of four children. Becca was born in Rockville, Maryland to Michele Chyba & Henry Levy, but moved to Spring, Texas when she was 4 months old. She is the oldest of two children.

Both Will and Becca decided to attend college at the University of Arizona in Tucson and started there in August 2011. They met during their first week of college through the Newman Center. They quickly became part of the same friend group and developed a crush on each other. After a long walk around campus at 3 am, they started dating on October 26, 2011.

Becca graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2015 with B.S. degrees in astronomy and physics and a minor in French. She started graduate school at the University of Maryland that fall. Will stayed in Tucson to finish his degrees, graduating in May 2016 with a B.S. in neuroscience & cognitive science and minors in molecular & cellular biology, ecology & evolutionary biology, and science education. The year of being long distance was challenging, and Will moved to Maryland in the fall of 2016.

Will and Becca lived together in Maryland for 5 years while Becca finished her M.S. and PhD in astronomy. Will worked as a data manager at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. They met some truly incredible people and had some wonderful memorable experiences in Maryland, but they both missed the desert and Tucson.

Luckily, Becca was offered a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona! The previous year, Will had started a new (remote) position as a Data Engineer at the Critical Path Institute, a non-profit based in Tucson. Becca and Will moved back to Tucson in September 2021.

Becca had been wanting a cat for a long time, but the timing was never right. Very shortly after they moved back to Tucson, Will stumbled across the perfect cat (on Reddit of all places!). Nora joined the family on October 8, 2021.

On October 7, 2023, Will suggested they take a walk around Gates Pass, a scenic desert pass through the mountains just west of Tucson. In the late afternoon light, surrounded by mountains and saguaro cacti, Will asked Becca to marry him.

One of their longtime friends from the Newman Center days, Jonathan, was there hiding to capture the long-awaited moment!

In September 2024, Will, Becca, and Nora moved back to Maryland, as Becca started a postdoctoral fellowship at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore! Luckily, Will is able to keep his current job and will continue to work remotely.

We are so grateful that you are a part of our story!

We cannot wait to celebrate this next chapter with you!