On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, friends of Gaetano “Guy” Catelli gathered at Bryant Hall on the University of Mississippi campus to remember and celebrate the life of Reynolds Russell, better known around Oxford as “Guy”. Guy passed away on December 12, 2023. He was a unique character who will be missed in Oxford.
Order of Service
“Amazing Grace,” Brian Sherwood
Prayer & Remembrance – Fish Robinson, Pastor Community Church
“Farther Along,” Brian Sherwood
Poem – Reading & Translation by Dr. Molly Pasco-Pranger, University of Mississippi Classic Department Chair
“I adopted the pen name “Gaetano (‘Guy’) Catelli”, by allusion to the poet Gaius Catullus while in NYC.”
Catullus 101
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem,
quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum.
Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi!
Nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.
—-—-—-—-
I’ve come here, as did you, brother,
along many roads, meeting many people along the way.
I’ve come to these last rites,
to pay my respects and to talk to you,
though I can’t hear your voice anymore,
since Fortune has separated you and me.
Oh, my poor brother, unfairly taken!
Still, for now, we’ve got these things
things our people always have done,
meant as a mournful gift to the dead.
Please, take them, wet with your brothers’ tears,
and forever, brother, hail and farewell.
Community Remembrance – Friends are invited to share memories & stories
Community Meal – One of Guy’s favorite things
