Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

In a eulogy spiced with humor, Nicholas Lorillard Pell spoke of some of the traits that defined his grandfather: consistency, resolve and humility.

The younger Pell recalled how his grandfather, wearing a suit, enjoyed motoring around Newport Harbor in an eight-foot rubber raft operated by his grandson. He remembered how his grandfather would jog -- or "shuffle," as his grandfather called it -- in a "reluctantly retired" suit.

"He ran at a slow, steady pace but he always finished," Pell said.

Pell said he's never met anyone more focused than his grandfather and that his resolve was something that could be mistaken for stubbornness, but it was a trait that enabled him to serve as a world-class legislator and a "successful advocate for the underprivileged."

"He simply never relented," Pell said.

His resolve was never more evident, according to his grandson, than in his battle against illness, which he fought for more than 10 years before dying on New Year's Day.

He wanted to keep living, to spend more time with is family, his grandson said.

"His will to live was of mythic proportions," Pell said.

Pell thanked those who attended his grandfather's funeral.

"I know he would have been humbled. He also would be incredibly pleased to see such an impressive group gathered on his behalf," Pell said.

 Tags  Claiborne Pell

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