Obituaries

Obituary: Mama Jo McKenzie

"Grande dame of state GOP" dies peacefully at home in Madison Friday with family members by her side.

 

Jo McKenzie, the "grande dame of the state GOP," died peacefully at her home in Madison Friday, with her family members by her side, The Hartford Courant said in a reported obituary. McKenzie is survived by her three daughters, Robin Vuillermet; Cheri McKenzie, and Tracey McKenzie, The Courant said: 

A demanding restaurateur in her heyday, McKenzie owned the four-star Copper Beech Inn in Ivortyton and then Robert Henry’s on Chapel Street near the New Haven Green. The restaurant, now known as the Union League Cafe, is owned by McKenzie’s oldest daughter, Robin, and her husband, a chef.

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Robin and her husband, Jean-Pierre Vuillermet, also started and run  Madison's beloved . 

The New Haven Register, also in a reported obituary, said she was the only woman to head the state Republican Party, was a member of the Republican National Committee for more than a decade.

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Chris DePino, a former GOP chairman in Connecticut, said McKenzie got him a speaking part at the Republican Convention in 1996 in San Diego, where he was also able to play his harmonica. It was the year she was the sergeant at arms at the convention when former Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas was the nominee for president. “She really was a great Republican leader in a man’s Republican world,” DePino said.

The Courant says funeral services will be on Saturday, May 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 300 Main Street, Wethersfield.


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