Former Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci was remembered Friday for his kindness and the courage he showed facing the disease that ultimately took his life
JAY LINDSAY
Associated Press
HUDSON, Mass. (AP) — Former Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci was remembered Friday for his kindness and the courage he showed facing the disease that ultimately took his life.
Hundreds of mourners filled St. Michael Parish Church, including former governors Mitt Romney and William Weld and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, during a funeral Mass in Cellucci's hometown of Hudson.
Cellucci died Saturday at age 65, about two years after he disclosed he had ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The Republican was praised at a Statehouse ceremony on Thursday for his decency and willingness to work across the aisle in his heavily Democratic state. But The Rev. Ronald Calhoun said in his homily that Friday's service was about his personal legacy.
"It is the private Paul that we come to grieve and bid farewell to today," he said.
Cellucci was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1977 and never lost another election. He became governor in 1997 and served in that role until 2001, when he became ambassador to Canada.
On Friday, Cellucci's two daughters remembered how their father treated people the same whether he met them at Dunkin' Donuts or the White House. He always looked for the good in everything and everybody, finding it impossible to leave bad tips for bad waitresses, or even see a movie he didn't like, they said.
His daughter, Anne Cellucci Adams, recalled how her father rarely missed her sports games, even coming to her high school junior varsity lacrosse game the day after his gubernatorial election. She joked how the crowd tripled because of his security detail.
His daughters also spoke of how he handled ALS with grace, and even played hide-and-seek with his grandson from his wheelchair.
"He's given me the tools to live with dignity, kindness of heart," his daughter Kate Garnett Cellucci said. She added she'll strive to live by the motto her father always repeated to her and her sister: "Be nice."