Richard John Garcia (April 24, 1947 – July 11, 2018) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in California from 2007 until his death in 2018. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in California from 1998 to 2007
Biography
Early life
Garcia was born in San Francisco on April 24, 1947, to immigrant parents from Mexico. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint Joseph College in Mountain View and at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
On December 19, 2006, Pope Benedict VI named Garcia as bishop of the Diocese of Monterey. He was installed on January 30, 2007.[2]
In 2009, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Garcia as a member of the Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) where he sat on the board. [5] Garcia was also a member of Migration and Refugee Services,[6] Subcommittee on Hispanics Affairs [7] and the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.[8]
In April 2018, Garcia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[9] García died on July 11, 2018, from complications of the disease at age 71.[10]