Four Former State GOP Chairmen At Mama Jo McKenzie’s Funeral Saturday

Four former state Republican chairmen and a former governor all attended the funeral Saturday for Mama Jo McKenzie, a larger-than-life figure for three decades in the state GOP.

McKenzie, who died earlier this week at the age of 80, was buried next to her husband – Robert Henry McKenzie – in Wethersfield.

Former Gov. John G. Rowland and many of the members of his administration attended the funeral at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wethersfield, where Rowland delivered a eulogy. Several state troopers from Rowland’s security detail were there, along with former state party chairmen Chris DePino, George Gallo, Christopher Healy, and Herb Shepardson. Rowland and his wife, Patty, who was a close friend of McKenzie, were sitting in the front row.

“It was a bit of a small reunion,” DePino said.

Former Rowland scheduler Chrissy Corey, secretary Kathleen Mengacci, former judge Joseph Mengacci, and former business czar Arthur Diedrick attended, along with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman – a Democrat who was a friend of McKenzie.

Besides Rowland, McKenzie was eulogized by Doug Evans, a friend who operated The Bushnell theatre when McKenzie was in her heyday.

“Those were the days,” said one insider who attended the funeral.

McKenzie, the cape-wearing grande dame of the state GOP, personified the Rowland administration from January 1995 through June 2004.