council@phiota.org - 49 East 41st Street Suite 449 New York, New York 10165
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contacts:
Omar LopezDirector of Marketing
Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
http://www.phiota.org/press.php
casal5@hotmail.com
Phiota Remembers Bishop Juan Arzube
The brothers of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. stand together in mourning the loss of our Distinguished Brother Bishop Juan Arzube. Brother Arzube passed away on December 25, 2007 and was buried on December 31, 2007. He was 89 years old. An Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, California, he had served as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church for 53 years, 36 of those as a Bishop.
Bishop Arzube was born in 1918 in Guayaquil, Ecuador and was the first Ecuadorian to serve as a bishop in the United States. He studied in England and went to study as a civil engineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He joined Phi Iota Alpha in 1938 and graduated in the early 1940s. Prior to entering St. John's Seminary, he worked in several fields including radio and motion pictures. After ordination he served in several parishes and was named by Pope Paul VI as an auxiliary bishop in 1971. Bishop Arzube was instrumental in establishing local leadership in East Los Angeles; in 1973 he was appointed Episcopal Vicar for the Spanish Speaking and in 1986 named the first San Gabriel Pastoral Region auxiliary bishop under the newly-structured pastoral region system. He retired in 1994 and was in residence at Nazareth House in Los Angeles where he passed away.
Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. proudly honors his life and legacy and believes that his life's work will continue to make an impact through our family and all those he touched through the many yeas of service to the community.
Since 1931, Phi Iota Alpha has set precedents for Latino greek leadership in the global community. Through the past 75 years, Phi Iota Alpha has cultivated and inspired Latino men nationwide to become leaders of their communities across Latin America and the United States. Open to all men, this distinguished brotherhood includes many professionals and former presidents of Latin American countries. Today Phi Iota Alpha, the Oldest Latino Fraternity in existence, continues to lead as the preeminent Latino fraternal organization with chapters throughout the United States.
