Former governor Jodi Rell entered the Brookfield Congregational Church Saturday morning arm-in-arm with her son, Michael, and daughter Meredith. They were entering to say a final farewell to husband and father, Lou Rell.
Dignitaries from Senator Richard Blumenthal to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman attended the service of Thanksgiving and Praise of Lou Rell’s life.
“I thought about what I was going to say today,” Michael Rell began, “about fixing the air conditioner at the house in Florida days ago: none of the screws fit, the blue duct tape. As a child, we’d referred to such a repair as ‘Rell’s Operation’ — not unusual for my father.”
“The Wind Beneath My Wings” was sung by soloist Tony Harrington, perhaps requested by Jodi Rell in memory of her husband who wanted to be known “not as the first gentleman of Connecticut, but as the man who told the press ‘Just call me Lou,’” as Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia put it.