Francisco Garmendia was born on November 6, 1924, in Lazcano, Spain.[1]
Garmendia was ordained a priest in Vitória, Spain, by Archbishop Carmelo Ballester y Nieto for the Canons Regular of the Lateran on June 29, 1947.[1] He served as a priest in Argentina[2] before he was incardinated into the Archdiocese of New York in 1975. In 1976, he was named as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in the Bronx.[3]
Auxiliary Bishop of New York
Pope Paul VI appointed Garmendia as titular bishop of Limisa and auxiliary bishop of New York on May 24, 1977. He was ordained a bishop at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan by Cardinal Terence Cooke on June 29, 1977. The principal co-consecrators were Coadjutor Archbishop John Maguire and Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Ahern. Garmendia became the first Hispanic bishop for the archdiocese.[1][3] Garmendia was named as vicar for Spanish pastoral development.[2]
In 1990, Garmendia co-founded Hope Line (La Linea de la Esperanza), a non-profit organization serving the South Bronx community. It was created after the 1990 arson attack at the Happy Land social club in the Bronx that killed 87 people. Hope Line started with a bilingual telephone counseling and referral service. It later expanded to include a diaper distribution program, a food pantry a SNAP benefit enrollment office, virtual income tax preparation, financial literacy workshops and referral services.[5][6]
Death
Garmendia continued to serve as an auxiliary bishop until his resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II on October 30, 2001. He died on November 16, 2005, at the age of 81.[1][7]
