Argeo Paul Cellucci: A Common Man with An Uncommon Touch

In the coming days and weeks many condolences and numerous words of fondness will undoubtedly pour in at the passing of former Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci.  Our deepest condolences go out to Jan and the entire Cellucci Family. Paul was our Small Town MA Governor who never forgot where he came from. He was Hudson's finest who became America's Representative to Canada during the Presidency of George W. Bush.

Now, our Republican 'Harry Truman' belongs to the ages, and Massachusetts Politics will never be the same. I am already struck at how many people are stopping to observe, how Paul positively impacted them. So like all of them, from governors to business leaders to presidents and to local merchants or teachers in downtown Hudson or Marlborough or Acton - I am so very proud to call Paul Cellucci my friend.

For me, as a fellow Italian-American from MetroWest, Paul made politics relevant and public service a noble calling. Like many of us who served under the Weld-Cellucci Administrations, his career literally changed the trajectory of our lives. It was the honor of a lifetime for Paul to endorse my 2012 campaign for State Senate in Middlesex Worcester, as I proudly sought the seat he once held. He never discouraged me in that challenging political campaign, nor since I followed him into Massachusetts politics some 17 years ago. 

In fact, he was never far from my mind whenever I would campaign - in any race or at any time I went before the voters.

Politically, he was the gold standard in constituent service. And, he will always come to symbolize the rights of the local taxpayer or small business enterprise to spend and save their hard earned money in a free market economy. Democrat or Republican, in Central Massachusetts, Paul Cellucci was the Ted Williams of the Legislature - and the rest of us who either pursued office or served at the State House were merely his step children.

So goodbye, Governor. Thank you for your service and never wavering friendship. Thank you for your courage during your public battle with ALS. In retrospect, taking this final battle public was hardly a surprise. For that was merely Your Way: One reaches out to their colleagues and neighbors; You work with all sides without compromising principles; You never back down from adversity or difficult odds; and then, just when it seems things cannot get better you proactively and definitively improve the lot of others.

From Hudson to Ottowa, from Washington to Marlborough we are all better off thanks to The Cellucci Way.  And, we will never forget the common man with an uncommon touch.


Dean Cavaretta

@DeanCav

Dean Cavaretta served in the Weld-Cellucci Administrations as a MassDOT Project Manager. In 1999, he was a Candidate for State Representative in the 14th Middlesex District. In 2012, Cavaretta was the Republican Candidate for State Senate against Incumbent (D) Jamie Eldridge in the Middlesex and Worcester District.