Jerome Arthur (Gerolamo) Pechillo, T.O.R. was born on 16 May 1919 in Brooklyn, NY to parents Arthur Pechillo and Catherine Murphy. He graduated Catholic University in Washington, D.C. in 1944 and completed his studies for priesthood at St. Bernardine’s Monastery in Hollidaysburg, PA. Pechillo became an ordained priest of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance on 10 June 1947. Appointed Prelate of Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay on 10 September 1961 by Pope John XXIII, he served as the first of Franciscans to respond to the pope’s appeals for assistance to Latin American churches. Pechillo organized the missionary territory in preparation for its establishment as a regular Diocese to be overseen by native born clergy. While serving as prelate, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Nova Sparsa on 20 October 1965 and ordained on 25 January 1966 by Pope Paul VI. The Paraguayan territory was promoted as Diocese of Coronel Oviedo on 6 March 1976 and Pechillo returned to the United States where he continued to serve the Hispanic community. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, NJ and regional bishop of Hudson County where he lived and worked at St. Aloysius Parish in Jersey City, NJ. He also served as the Treasurer of Northeast Catholic Pastoral Center of Hispanics. On 1 January 1991 at the home of his brother Rudolph DiCarlo in San Francisco, CA, Pechillo passed away of a heart attack at the age of 71.