Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 1

4fhED. 5th ED, Weather Forecast INCREASING CLOUDINESS Temp. Range: Fahrenheit 21 to 35 Celsins r7 to I Complete Weather, Tides OoPageBU Start Every Day Right COPYRIGHT 191 'THE HARTFORD COURANT CO. 20 PER COPY HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1981 PAGES ESTABLISHED 1764, DAILY EDITION, VOL CXLTV NO. 37 Grass State WillLie She Was Her Body InStateM Capitol; As Hard-Working, Smart Politician 'V Funeral Monday By DAVID H.

RHINELANDER Ella T. Grasso's 10-month battle with cancer ended Thursday at 5:49 p.m. The 61-year-old former governor, with her husband and two children at her bedside, died of heart failure in Hartford Waiting in the next room were her close friend and ally, Lt. Gov, Joseph J. Fauliso; his wife, Ann, and Thomas Grasso's brother, Ernest.

si i '-A I yfwf Ella T. Grasso 1919 1981 Grasso will be accorded a full State funeral, Gov. O'Neill announced Thursday night. She will lie in state in the court adjacent to the Hall of Flags at the State The politicians, reporters, bureaucrats and others among whom Grasso spent her public life were in waiting as well. Word spread through the State Capitol from 11 a.m.

Sunday until 11 Capitol early afternoon that a.m. Monday. A funeral mass will take she had lapsed into a coma dur- place at noon Monday at St. Joseph's By WILLIAM COCKERHAM Steeped in the back-room ic politics of the John M. Bailey era, Ella Tambussi Grasso went before Connecticut voters nine times for elective posts and won easily every time.

Known by most of the state's residents simply as "Ella," she was widely regarded as one of the most intelligent and hard-working politicians in Connecticut during the last half century. She also was known as one who believed in expediency and demanded loy-alty. Her friends were rewarded and her enemies sent into political oblivion. Her career of almost three decades in public office began with her election as state representative from Windsor Locks in 1952. She was one of the few Democrats who survived the Eisenhow--er landslide that year, and went on to serve two two-year terms in the Gener--al Assembly.

In 1958, she was elected secretary of the state, a post to which she was reelected twice. She served for six years under two Democratic governors, Abraham Ribicoff and John N. Demp-sey. It was in this post that she toned her political muscle and endeared herself to Connecticut voters. i She was elected to Congress from the 6th District north and west of Hart- Sna tho mnmincr that it wmilH hp Cathedral.

ford in 1970 and 1972. She was a member of the House Education and Labor Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee. In November 1974, Grasso was elected the 83rd governor of Connecticut the first woman in the nation to be elected governor of a state without succeeding her husband. She won a second term in 1978. She took both races by more than 200,000 votes.

Born Ella Rosa Giovanna Oliva Tam- bussi in Windsor Locks on May 10, 1919, the daughter of Italian immigrants, she was graduated magna cum laude in 1940 from Mount Holyoke College in: South Hadley, Mass. She had been elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year. In 1942, at 23, she received a master's degree in economics and sociology from her alma After graduation, Grasso became an1 enrolled Republican. In 1948, impressed with the platform of the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Chester Bowles, she switched parties and worked for his election. She became Bailey's close friend and confidante and was called the "strong right thinking arm" of the late Democratic state and national chairman.

In recent years, she took to wearing her eyeglasses high on her head, as did her political mentor, and was constantly See Hard, Page C10 a matter of hours, perhaps a day. She will be buried in St. MaryV Cemetery on Spring Street in her home town of Windsor Locks. Ovarian cancer first had been detected during surgery April 3 at Hartford Hospital. The disease spread and tumors were found in her liver in November and in her intestinal tract in December.

Because of her failing she announced Dec. 4 that she would resign her office Dec. 31. Even then she was tough. After telling legislative leaders she would be resigning, she pointedly reminded them that until the end of the month, she was still the boss.

Grasso's condition turned critical See Grasso, Page A14 It was no surprise her condition had been worsening rapidly in the past week. But in the halls of the Capitol, where she had been such a strong presence even as the early stages of her illness kept her from her office, people moved grim-faced and subdued. Just after 7 p.m., Hartford Hospital spokesman James Battaglio, his voice strained with emotion, made the announcement of her death: "I have the tragic assignment of informing you that Gov. Ella Grasso died at 5:49 p.m. She was pronounced dead at 6:03, Feb.

5, 1981." On The Inside: 'Our Governor Was a Spirited Page A21 She Never Considered Being a Woman a Liability. Page C10 Page of Pictures. Page Cll or -Dead Leader Expressions" of Grief 'Voiced Tributes, president of the Senior Citizens Club in Grasso's home town of Windsor Locks, comforted her family during the long 'illness of her father, the former National Democratic Party Chairman John M. Bailey, and after his death. Bailey brought the young Ella Grasso along as a political protege and oversaw her career as long as he Was alive.

"I extend my deepest sympathy to the Grasso family now," said who was weeping and whose voice -broke with emotion. She said, as many did, that although she had known for two months that Grasso was dying, it didn't seem to help ase the shock. en in the country and said she showed "great strength, skill, toughness, and State Treasurer Henry E. Parker called her "the lady of ladies." But State Senate Majority Leader; Richard F. Schneller, D-Essex, was struck by the force of the emotion of "ordinary citizens" he heard calling into radio stations to talk about their grief as he listened to his car radio while driving home after news of the death.

think there's going to be an out- owing of sentiment such as this state as never seen during the next few days," Schneller said. One of Grasso's fans, Angelo Alfano, replaceable," O'Neill said. "Nor 11 she be forgotten." He said his heart went out to the governor's family; and her friends all over the state. "My own heart is breaking as well." He finished and left. He took no questions, and none were asked.

Reaction to Grasso's death was swift and intense and filled with pain. It came from those who worked with her in the highest levels of government, and from those who knew her only as constituents of one of the most popular po- litical figures the state has seen. To both, she was always "Ella." Former President Carter called Grasso one of the most prominent wom mer Gov. Ella T. Grasso's closest friends and political associates and one of the few to see her on the day she died, summed up the sorrow that swept the state.

A solemn but composed Gov. O'Neill faced a jumble of television cameras, radio microphones and reporters in his office 90 minutes after her death. "It is my sad duty to inform you as I was informed at 6 p.m. that Gov. Grasso has passed on, he said.

"We in Connecticut have been most fortunate to have known, worked with and been the beneficiaries of all her good works throughout her life. She will not be replaced because she is ir By ANTOINETTE MARTIN "She's dead." i "The governor's dead." The news moved quickly throughout Connecticut, from a room in Hartford Hospital to the airwaves of radio and television, from mouth to mouth in the somber Capitol, from person to person in the state Ella Tambussi Grasso served all her life. In its wake flowed the tributes, the praises, the expressions of grief and irreplaceable loss. ''We will miss her. We have lost someone really, special.

May God grant her eternal reward." Lt. Gov. Joseph J. Fauliso, one of for- called The Courant to say, "She was one of us, that's the way we looked at it When she came to visit the senior citizens center, she was just plain Ella." "Any time Ella talked, I just loved to listen, because Ella was so smart," Alfano said. A gasp went through the audience at the Bushnell Memorial when St.

Louis Symphony conductor Leonard Slatkin announced Grasso's death. He then led the orchestra in Faure Pavane, a somber piece, in her memory. Secretary of the State Barbara B. Kennelly remembered that Grasso See Tributes, Page Alf in eaff an warns u.q. Ludgin, Athanson I Trade Harsh Words Of Fiscal 'Calamity' LA.

Times Service WASHINGTON Warning of a spent $5.1 trillion; our debt has grown by $648 billion. Prices have exploded by 178 percent" he said. "How much better off are we for it all? We all know, we are very much worse off. "When we measure how harshly Hi ROBERT F. LUDGIN Garwood Found Guilty of Aiding North Vietnam From Wire Services CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.

A five-man military jury Thursday convicted Marine Pfc. Robert R. Garwood of collaborating with the enemy despite defense pleas that his 14 years as a prisoner of war drove him insane and turned him into a "white Vietnamese." The court-martial was the first jury trial of a Vietnam-era POW. The jury found the 34-year-old wood innocent on a charge of maltreating a fellow POW, but convicted him on a lesser charge of assaulting the POW. All the jurors were Vietnam veterans.

Garwood's lawyers never disputed the collaboration charge. They argued the Marine, who was a 19-year-old jeep driver when he was captured near Da Nang, was driven insane by his communist captors. The military-judge, CoL Robert E. Switzer, told jurors they would have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of Garwood's sanity to convict him. The verdict came during the jury's second day of deliberations and after they examined copies of testimony giv- See Garwood, Page A15 on the council to override the mayor's vetoes.

-V Informed of Ludgin's letter, the may I or asked: "Has Mr. Ludgin returned: City Hall to the people? The answer People are more alienated than ever." And then he said he would be "more than happy" to have the deputy mayor: run for mayor. "I assure you, he will get the surprise of his life," said Athanson. The harsh letter and bitter response continue the public differences the men who ran as "a team" against the unsuccessful endorsed Democratic slate headed by former Deputy MayoC Nicholas R. Carbone in September The ordinances, if the vetoes are overturned Monday, would take away; the power to appoint auditors and.

tile-civic center director from the civic cenC ter commission and give it solely to the: city manager. The ordinances were approved by at 5-3 council vote. Six votes will be need-Z ed to override the vetoes. Democrat: Olga U. Thompson was absent from the meeting at which approval was grantv ed- See Ludgin, Page AI5 By JON SANDBERG Deputy Mayor Robert F.

Ludgin called Mayor Athanson a "phantom mayor" who "can't find his way to the broom closet," and the mayor responded Thursday that if Ludgin tries to run against him "he will get the surprise of his life." The mayor and deputy mayor disagree over how the civic center should be run, and those differences were stated Thursday with words, both written and spoken, like "hogwash," "pandemonium" and "head hunting," and accusations of alienating and breaking promises to the people. Athanson accused Ludgin of head hunts and witch hunts, for filing seven ordinances designed to chip away at the power of the civic center commission. The mayor vetoed some of Ludgin's proposals. So Ludgin wrote a tetter to the council, saying that as "far as head hunts are concerned, the mayor ought to fear a head hunt later this year by the voters hunting for the head of a phantom mayor who hides behind a closed door, emerging infrequently only to break his promise to voters." The letter was Ludgin's attempt to convince his colleagues "runaway" federal deficit of almost $80 billion in the current fiscal year, President Reagan said Thursday night the nation faces "economic calamity" unless drastic cuts are made immedi- ately in government spending and taxes. Reagan, making his first televised address from the White House, blamed past government policies for what he called the "worst economic mess since the Great Depression." The president said the United States had come to a turning point and must fight unemployment and inflation simultaneously with the economic proposals he will present to Congress Feb.

18. There will be budget cuts in virtually every department, Reagan said, but his program will spare truly needy" Americans and eliminate government benefits only for those who do not deserve them. "We are threatened with an economic calamity of tremendous proportions, and the old business-as-usual treatment can't save us," Reagan said. "Since 1960, our government has these years of inflation, lower productivity and uncontrolled government growth have affected our lives, we know we must act and act now," the president said. Reagan appealed for bipartisan backing for his proposals and said he already had found a real spirit of cooperation among Democrats and Republicans during his 16 days in office.

He applauded the House of Representatives for its overwhelming passage Thursday of his first legislative request: to raise the debt limit by $50 billion to $985 billion. He urged the Senate to follow so the government can pay its bills. "Before we reach the day when we can reduce the debt ceiling, we may in spite of our best efforts see a national debt in excess of a trillion dollars," Reagan said. "This is a figure literally beyond our comprehension." See Reagan, Page A15 MAYOR ATHANSON Amusements Editorials AM Sports CI Business C7 Feminine Topics Sydney Omarr Camera Angles D10 Legal Notices Bll CityTown B1 Legislative News Weather Classified B11.C12 Lifestyle A16 Weekend 01 Comics BIO Lottery Numbers Crossword Bit Obituaries A10 Yale Charges Top $10,000 Yale has raised its charges 13.5 1 percent to $10,340 for tuition, room and board, the largest m- crease in the school's history. In 1973 Yale charged $5,000, Story on Page A4 'T- Beatles May Do Lennon Tribute Album Their former producer, George Martin, is working to bring the three surviving members of the Beatles together for a tribute album to John Lennon.

The album won't be cut until after February but sources say the reunion will come soon. Story on Page B12 Weicker Makes Deal In return for virtual veto power over state appointees, Sen. Lowell P. Weicker will support James L. Buckley for a high State Department appointment.

Story on Page C6 lie:.