Romeo Roy Blanchette was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. He served as Bishop of Joliet from 1966 to 1979.

Biography

Romeo Blanchette was born in Kankakee County

Kankakee County, Illinois

Kankakee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 113,449, which is an increase of 9.3% from 103,833 in 2000. Its county seat is Kankakee....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, to Oscar and Josephine (née Langlois) Blanchette. After attending Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary

Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary

Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary was an American seminary preparatory school administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for young men considering the priesthood...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 from 1928 to 1931, he studied at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary

University of Saint Mary of the Lake

University of Saint Mary of the Lake, also called Mundelein Seminary, is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, governed from Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is recognized as the first institution of higher...

  in Mundelein

Mundelein, Illinois

Mundelein is a village in Lake County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 31,064.-History:The community now known as Mundelein has been inhabited since at least 1650, when the Potowatami Indians were known to have been trading with French fur traders....

, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1934. He was ordained

Holy Orders

The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....

 to the priesthood

Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....

 by Cardinal George Mundelein on April 3, 1937 upon the recommendation of rector Reynold Henry Hillenbrand

Reynold Henry Hillenbrand

Reynold Henry Hillenbrand was a seminal American Roman Catholic Church leader in the Liturgical Movement, Chicago priest and seminary rector,...

.

He continued his studies in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 at the Pontifical Gregorian University

Pontifical Gregorian University

The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...

, earning a Licentiate of Canon Law

Licentiate of Canon Law

Licentiate of Canon Law is the title of an advanced graduate degree with canonical effects in the Roman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of canon law...

 in 1939. Blanchette was a notary of the matrimonial court

Ecclesiastical court

An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...

 in the Archdiocese of Chicago

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

The Archdiocese of Chicago was established as a diocese in 1843 and as an Archdiocese in 1880. It serves more than 2.3 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties in Northeastern Illinois, a geographic area of 1,411 square miles. The Archdiocese is divided into six vicariates and 31 deaneries...

 (1938-1949) when Bishop Martin Dewey McNamara

Martin Dewey McNamara

Martin Dewey McNamara was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Joliet, Illinois .-Biography:...

 brought him to the newly established Diocese of Joliet, where he was made chancellor

Chancellor (ecclesiastical)

Two quite distinct officials of some Christian churches have the title Chancellor.*In some churches, the Chancellor of a diocese is a lawyer who represents the church in legal matters....

. In 1950, he was named vicar general

Vicar general

A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...

 of the diocese and a domestic prelate

Monsignor

Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...

.

On February 8, 1965, Blanchette was appointed Auxiliary Bishop

Auxiliary bishop

An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...

 of Joliet and Titular Bishop

Titular bishop

A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...

 of Maxita by Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

. He received his episcopal

Bishop (Catholic Church)

In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....

 consecration

Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...

 on the following April 3 from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi

Egidio Vagnozzi

Edigio Vagnozzi was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the second president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See from 1968 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1967.-Biography:Egidio Vagnozzi was born in Rome to Francesco and Pasqua ...

, with Bishops William Aloysius O'Connor

William Aloysius O'Connor

William Aloysius O'Connor was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Springfield in Illinois from 1949 to 1975.-Biography:...

 and Ernest John Primeau

Ernest John Primeau

Ernest John Primeau was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Manchester from 1960 to 1974....

 serving as co-consecrators

Consecrator

Consecrator is a term used in the Roman Catholic Church to designate a bishop who ordains a priest to the episcopal state. The term is often used in Eastern Rite Churches and in Anglican communities. The term "Principal Consecrator" is used to designate the primary bishop who ordains a new bishop...

. He attended the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

. Following the death of Bishop McNamara, Blanchette was named the second Bishop of Joliet on July 19, 1966. He served in this capacity until January 30, 1979, when he resigned after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...

. He later succumbed to the illness and died at age 69.