Richard Facciolo, the chief administrative officer and principal of Holy Trinity Catholic High Schools died Wednesday night after a brief hospitalization due to illness, according to a press release from the school.

There was a public memorial service held Thursday at the school. Students signed a quilt that will be presented to the family at a later date.

Facciolo, 61, died at the Great River Medical Center Hospice in West Burlington, Iowa.

"Although we have only known Dr. Facciolo for a short while, we are deeply saddened by this loss and we extend our sympathies to his family," Diocesan Superintendent Lee Morrison said.

Doris Turner, former CAO of Holy Trinity, has returned to serve as interim administrator for the remainder of the school year.

Facciolo is the former superintendent of the Bishop Hoffman Catholic School System in Fremont, Ohio.

He replaced Turner in June 2011, according to an April 20, 2011 story that appeared in the The Catholic Messenger, a newspaper of the Davenport, Iowa Diocese.