Viewers react and remember Dr. Mel

(WTNH) - Dr. Mel was loved and cherished by his News 8 family, and he was a well known fixture across Connecticut.

He was more than just a household name. To many viewers he was like an extended family.

Dr. Mel was on the air for decades, so many people, some who may not have known Dr. Mel personally, but felt like they did paid their respects and shared their memories of him at his funeral.

Just seeing him on television was enough to bring some people out to say their final goodbyes.

Geraldine Harrington of New Haven said she has been watching Dr. Mel for years. "One of my favorites."

Doris Vitale of New Haven could sympathize with Dr. Mel's cancer battle. "I used to watch him on the news all the time. He did the weather. And also, I had cancer too, so I can feel his pain too. He was a great person. Wonderful man."

Dr. Mel is remembered as a celebrity and a cancer warrior. He was always rallying the troops and brightening the days of other patients at Yale New Haven Hospital.

"To bring a smile out on a cancer patient is an incredible thing and he, by just his mere presence, would bring amazing smiles," said Michael Celentano of YNHH.

"The pain that he was in, he would always take a moment to talk to anyone, he would speak to anyone. He was their inspiration," said Marge DeFrancesco of YNHH.

He is still and will always be an inspiration. His health might have finally failed him, but Dr. Mel's spirit lives on in all of those who are fighting cancer.

"He always looked to the sky for the weather for us, now he's looking down from the sky and we're all truly blessed," said Celentano.

So many people were impressed by how Dr. Mel could exude warmth through the T-V screen, even when he was in pain. People were also impressed with how hard he fought cancer for so many years, yet still took the time to help others.