Red Sox legend Jerry Remy celebrated in public wake

The late Red Sox Hall of Famer and broadcaster Jerry Remy received an outpouring of adoration from fans who took up his family on an open invite to pay respects at his wake.

“I’m so impressed they had this wonderful, wonderful tribute to this man who I can’t say enough about. I love him and I miss him,” said Sox fan Anna Lonzo, who paid her respects at the wake Thursday afternoon.

The Remy family welcomed the public to honor Jerry’s memory at Brasco and Son’s Memorial Chapel in Waltham, five days after he died from lung cancer. He was 68.

Attendees showed up in Remy jerseys and other Red Sox paraphernalia and signed giant cards at the entrance to the chapel. Inside, Remy’s body laid in a casket adorned with abundant flowers and a Red Sox jersey and cap. His player roster photo sat on display above him, with a large banner of Fenway’s Green Monster wall behind. Candles flickered around a giant “2” in memory of his number, and televisions looped through video highlights from his decades in the Red Sox family.

Red Sox fans who came during the public visiting hours were eager to share their feelings about the former second basemen who they lovingly called “Remdog.” Many in attendance said they felt incredibly close to Remy after listening to him as color commentator for 33 years on NESN’s Red Sox television broadcasts.

“We have so much love and admiration for this man. The booth without him? I just can’t imagine,” fan Celeste Cimino said.

“He was a great guy, and we’re going to miss him terribly. We’ve spent every night with him, and we’re going to be very lonely from now on,” said fan Susan Generre O’Laughlin.

Siblings Denis and Eileen Stocker visited the wake together, mourning the loss of the Sox legend.

“I’ll miss him big time,” Denis said.

“Hearing his voice, his excitement, his dancing, and his way of reporting? That was the most fun. When you’re watching a baseball game on television and seeing a sportscaster behave that way — that was the best,” Eileen said.

Other mourners echoed that sentiment, and said Remy brought a liveliness to broadcasts that made every game enjoyable — particularly while he was paired with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo.

“They would clown around like crazy,” Lonzo remember. “I thought sometimes, these guys are going to get fired! But it was always so fun.”

Lonzo and her husband also took inspiration in Remy’s long battle against lung cancer. Remy went multiple rounds with the disease but continued to return to the booth while he was in periods of remission.

“We looked up to him because he beat this cancer so many times,” she said.

“He fought right until the end,” she added.

Remy’s funeral service will be a private occasion Friday.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3q7DSHz