Psalms, readings and tributes echoed in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford Tuesday as residents, officials and loved ones paid their respects to former Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
Rell died on Nov. 20 at the age of 78. The Republican led the state from 2004 to 2011.
Rell laid in state at the Connecticut state Capitol in Hartford where visitors paid their respects to the governor. A procession then led Rell's casket to the nearby Cathedral of Saint Joseph where family members and politicians remembered her life of civility and service to the state.
Gov. Ned Lamont eulogized Rell at the service.
"We loved her and we felt the love right back," Lamont said. "She didn't get into politics for fame and power — she just wanted to help people out."
Rell was remembered as not only kind and fair, but deeply committed to public service, community and family.
"We are eternally grateful that our mom was part of our lives, and yours," her son, Michael Rell, said at the service. "Today mom is looking down, smiling and saying, 'Really? You shouldn't have done all this for me.'"
A leader of 'honesty and openness'
Rell was Connecticut’s second female governor and took the role at a difficult time. She was lieutenant governor when former Gov. John Rowland abruptly resigned in 2004 during a corruption investigation.
Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia, a pastor at the Congregational Church of Brookfield, remembered Rell as a role model.
"For women like us, those of us called to leadership in vocations that have not traditionally been held by women: governor, preacher,” she said. "We are even more grateful for the example she set in working faithfully through and across our many differences."
It was a sentiment echoed by Rell in 2013 when her official governor's portrait was unveiled.
“I worked hard every day, and I sought to do things because I wanted to do them right and for the right reasons,” Rell said at the time.
“She governed with honesty and openness,” former Republican State Sen. John McKinney said at the 2013 unveiling event. “She governed with class and character, and that, to me, is the great legacy of Jodi Rell.”
Several current and former lawmakers shared a similar sentiment following her death.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said in an interview with Connecticut Public that Rell will be remembered for the credibility, integrity and sense of purpose she restored in state government.
"Whether you agreed or disagreed with Jodi Rell, you knew that what she said genuinely came from her heart," Blumenthal said. "I think [that] will be a big part of her legacy."
Lamont credited Rell with bringing stability to the state’s government and rebuilding trust with residents.
"The Jodi Rell that the people of Connecticut saw in public was the Jodi Rell that she was in real life — calm, rational, caring, approachable, and devoted to her family and to her state," Lamont said in a statement after her death.
Rell was a longtime Brookfield resident. Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, she represented Brookfield in the state House of Representatives. She was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and attended Old Dominion University and Western Connecticut State University.
Private burial planned
Lamont’s office said Rell will be laid to rest at another date in a private ceremony at the Connecticut State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown, alongside her husband, Lou Rell, who was a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Flags, which had been flying statewide at half-staff since Rell’s death was announced, returned to full-staff at sunset Tuesday.
Connecticut Public Radio's Kelsey Hubbard Rollinson and Patrick Skahill contributed to this report.
