Former Gov. M. Jodi Rell has died at 78: family

Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell died on Wednesday after a brief illness, according to her family.

They said she died at a Florida hospital. She was 78 years old. 

Gov. Ned Lamont is calling for U.S. and state flags in Connecticut lowered to half-staff in her honor. effective immediately until sunset on the date of interment, which has not yet been determined.

Rell, the 87th governor of Connecticut, was the second female governor in state history and the first Republican woman to serve as governor of the state.

She was a native of Virginia and relocated to Connecticut in 1967 with her late husband Lou, a commercial airline pilot, according to the Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service.

She served in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1985 to 1995.

Rell served as lieutenant governor from 1995 to 2004 and became governor when Gov. John Rowland resigned in 2004.

She was re-elected to a full term as governor in 2006 and held the office until 2011.

“Jodi Rell loved Connecticut, she loved public service, and she served our state with dignity and grace.  As our 87th Governor, she had an incredible connection with Connecticut residents that helped her lead us through some very difficult days.  She was the genuine article. She emphasized transparency in government. She was a leader and a role model for all our citizens.  Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the Rell family. Our hearts are full knowing that she is reunited with her beloved Lou,” the Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus said in a statement.

As our 87th Governor, she had an incredible connection with Connecticut residents that helped her lead us through some very difficult days.

Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus

“Governor Rell represented the very best of Connecticut values, expanding healthcare and childcare, and making Connecticut one of the first states in the country to recognize same-sex unions,” Lamont said in a statement.

“She became governor almost reluctantly and at a time of great turmoil, and she used her newly acquired authority to bring stability to state government in a way that was very much needed at the time, focusing on strengthening state ethics laws and rebuilding the trust of the residents of our state. Her style of leadership was not fabricated or manipulated in any way," Lamont added.

"The Jodi Rell that the people of Connecticut saw in public was the Jodi Rell that she was in real life – calm, rational, caring, approachable, and devoted to her family and to her state. During this time that I’ve had the honor of serving as governor, she has become a very good friend. We had a great bipartisan conversation at the Rell Center last year and had a lot of fun at the annual holiday parties at the Residence. I will miss her at the door greeting Christmas well-wishers next month. We will all miss Governor Rell, who left the state a better place. Annie and I extend our condolences to the entire Rell family,” the statement from Lamont said.

“It was my great honor to serve with Governor Rell when I first joined the legislature. After the tumult and uncertainty of her predecessor’s tenure, she was a model of grace and stability. The Governor was incredibly kind and gracious to me whenever I had the chance to engage with her. Her brand of thoughtful politics and leadership is sorely missed, and my hope is that elected leaders here and across the country will do better to follow her lead and example,” Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

The family said funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.