Hundreds attend John Powell funeral

More than 400 mourners -- from the state's chief administrative judge and state senators to grassroots GOP volunteers -- paid their last respects to former Suffolk Republican leader John Powell Tuesday.

Huge American flags hung from fire ladder trucks outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in Patchogue and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Coram, where Powell was buried.

A bagpiper and a six-car sheriff's escort for the funeral procession also belied the fact that Powell had been out of power for more than a decade.

"I've never known a time in politics without him," said John Jay Lavalle, the current Suffolk GOP chairman. "He helped a tremendous number of people -- whether it was with a job or helping families through a crisis."

The funeral Mass was a family rite -- with Powell's mother, Theresa, and brother, George, doing readings, and his children, John and Alexandria, bringing bread and wine to the altar. His brother and sons, John and Anthony, served as pallbearers.

At Holy Sepulchre, mourners laid flowers on Powell's grave and doves were released into the sky. Powell, who suffered from heart disease, died Feb. 15 at his Medford home. He was 51.

"John did a lot of good . . . and he made some mistakes," said Deacon Jim DiGiovanna, referring to the former leader's jailing on federal corruption charges in 2000. "I know how badly the family wants the good he did to be remembered."

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"He was a good man," said Charles Clampet of Blue Point, who said he met Powell when both were party volunteers stuffing envelopes in the 1980s. "He was so smart, he could have been governor. He really knew how to rally the troops."

"Ninety percent of the people here, he helped," said Gene Gerrard, 91, former Brookhaven GOP chairman.

For nearly a decade, Powell was Suffolk's most powerful political figure, rising from town highway department payloader to the state Assembly. At the age of 30, he became the GOP leader for Suffolk's largest town, Brookhaven. He rose to county leader after being the first New York GOP leader to back little-known upstate state Sen. George Pataki for governor.

Among the dignitaries in attendance Tuesday were A. Gail Prudenti, the chief administrative judge, and state Sens. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley).

Former Suffolk Legislature Presiding Officer Joseph Caracappa, now undersheriff, rode in the lead sheriff's car during the procession.

"I wanted to do it to send him home with the dignity he deserved," Caracappa said.