Norwalk Humanitarian Richard Fuller Laid to Rest [Video]

's constant attention to keeping children out of trouble, keeping them involved in after-school activities and keeping them focused on going to college were gifts to Norwalk that several speakers thanked him for on Saturday during his funeral.

Tributes from many quarters flowed Fuller, who died Sunday, at his 2 1/2-hour funeral Saturday, heard by about 800 mourners fit tightly into .

The 11 a.m. event featured eulogies not only from family members and friends of the longtime leader of the and former Norwalk Board of Education member, but from state lawmakers and Mayor Richard A. Moccia, as well.

Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity that Fuller belonged to also marked his passing with a ceremony during the service, messages from several churches were read aloud, and

Grace Baptist Church was filled to overflowing by mourners, nearly all of whom stayed to the very end. Then Fuller's casket was transferred to a cemetery with a Norwalk Police escort and burial was accompanied by salutes from the military (Fuller served in the armed forces in the Philippines during the Vietnam War).

Johnnie Mae Weldon told the crowed that, like many others, Fuller had "taken me under his wing" when she was in the Youth Development Program at the Carver Center. She asked other YDP graduates or members to stand up in the audience. About 35 people stood.

State Rep. Larry Cafero of Norwalk, who served on the Norwalk Board of Education with Fuller, said Fuller had also taken him under his wing. "How many times have you heard that here, today? This man had some big wings."

Terry Fuller, one of Richard Fuller's eight siblings, spoke about how his brother and older sister would help parent the children when their own parents were working multiple jobs. He remembered getting "a number of whuppings," from them both, but also recalled Richard being his "first coach" and getting the younger children involved in sports to keep them out of trouble.

State Rep. Bruce V. Morris of Norwalk said that Fuller had two framed citations from the Connecticut General Assembly in his living room, and he was giving Fuller's family a third, this time a memorial citation.

On behalf of former mayor Alex Knopp, who couldn't attend the funeral, former Norwalk Schools Superintendent Sal Corda spoke about Fuller.

Corda said that when he was a boy and would walk with his own grandfather, an Italian immigrant, his grandfather would occasionally speak of another man they'd meet as a "man of respect." The phrase was difficult for his grandfather and even his father to define for the boy, Corda said, but it involved "honor, integrity, taking care of your family, thinking about others."

In leaving for the funeral, Corda said, his own father, now 100 years old, asked who the deceased was, and Corda told him, "A man of respect."

"I understand," his father replied.

Esther Perry, another speaker, said the city should name something after Fuller, given all that Fuller had done for the city. She suggested a street be renamed. Mayor Moccia nodded, apparently in agreement.

In his eulogy, the Rev. Lindsay E. Curtis picked up on a theme other speakers had mentioned: "Now, if you really love him like you say you do, ... invest in some child. You may get talked back to, you may even get cussed out—but invest!"

By "invest," Curtis meant to help a child not just with money but with time to encourage that child to stay out of trouble, do well in school and further his or her education after high school.

In an emotional end to his eulogy, Curtis related how he was told about the way railroads decommission freight cars by pulling them down on their sides and painting "WD" (for "withdrawn") in big letters. A big "WD" has now been put on Fuller, Curtis said.

But in this case, the minister said, "WD" must stand for God's approval of Fuller's many good deeds, and it means "Well Done."

"That 'WD' simply means 'Well Done, Well Done, good and firm soldier, well done,'" Curtis said as the congregation clapped and cheered. "'Thank you, Rick, well done, well done, well done, well done.'"

Editor's note: Norwalk Patch asked state Sen. Bob Duff to post the text of his speech at Fuller's funeral.

Correction: Sal Corda's name was incorrect in the original version of this article. Norwalk Patch regrets the error.