Richard Mitchell Trelease Jr. (April 16, 1921 – February 25, 2005) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, serving from 1971 to 1988.
[1] Trelease was ordained deacon at St Paul's Church in Kansas City, Missouri, his father's church, on June 27, 1945, from the hands of Bishop Robert Nelson Spencer of West Missouri.
[4] Trelease was elected on the seventh ballot as Coadjutor Bishop of New Mexico and Southwest Texas on July 6, 1971, and was consecrated on December 15, 1971, at the Popejoy Hall of the University of New Mexico by Presiding Bishop John E.
[7] During his episcopacy, the name of the diocese was changed from New Mexico and Southwest Texas to Rio Grande, and hence was the first bishop to use that title.
His abrupt resignation in 1988 for health reasons led to the election of the conservative and evangelical bishop Terence Kelshaw who reversed many of the progressive milestones initiated by Trelease.