Kyle Granello, a member of Masuk’s Class of 2015, was studying sociology at Southern Connecticut State University in hopes of pursuing a Master’s degree to become a high school guidance counselor. But those plans were never realized. He tragically lost his life at the age of 25 when he was home on winter break two years ago.
“I found him in his bedroom the day before Christmas Eve,” his mother, Susan, recalled. “I just wrapped his gifts. It was late morning, early afternoon, so I checked on him.”
Fentanyl was found in his system.
“We accepted his posthumous degree. That walk meant the world to him and he wasn’t able to make it himself,” Susan said of graduation day. “I did the walk. It was bittersweet. It was tough, but I definitely felt he was with me.”
“She sat like one of the students in front,” said Kat Farnham, who grew up in Monroe and now lives in Seymour. Farnham said Kyle was her best friend since age 13.
On Saturday afternoon, Susan Granello, her husband, Paul, and twin sons, Owen and Ryan, both 20, attended a ceremony with relatives and friends to dedicate a new bench to Kyle, which is now on display inside the gazebo in front of Monroe Town Hall.
Among the public officials in attendance were First Selectman Terry Rooney, State Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, Town Councilman Sean O’Rourke, Planning and Zoning Commission Vice Chairman Bruno Maini and Nicole Lupo, a commission alternate.
The Monroe Historical Society has a memorial bench program. Farnham said the benches are usually placed at Wolfe Park, but the society signed off on it being in the gazebo.
“We chose this spot, because during the pandemic, he got all his friends to play Pokemon GO,” Farnham said of Kyle. “The gazebo was a favorite spot. His memory will live on. We just wanted to keep his memory alive.”
“It started out as an idea of mine, so we could go somewhere and feel close to him,” Farnham said of the bench project. “He was very popular. He was just friends with everybody.”
“He rooted for the underdog,” Susan said.
The first selectman praised the Granello family for not only dedicating a new bench, but offering to refurbish the three older ones already inside the gazebo.
Rooney said he worked closely with the Monroe Public Works Department on the project and research found the older benches were from the 1940s and 1950s.
“They had to match the benches already existing and they found one in Boston,” Susan said. “We had them refurbished, so they all matched.”
The first selectman said Jamie Maliszewski, of Monroe, drove to Boston to find metal ends for the benches to complete the restoration. He also recognized Farnham for raising money for the project via donations to a GoFundMe page.
“Kyle will be here in spirit when people come to visit,” Rooney said. “This is what community is about. This is what Monroe is all about. This is very dear to my heart and to all of us as a community.”
Farnham used a giant pair of scissors to cut the ribbon, drawing loud applause from the crowd that had gathered. Then the coverings were removed from the benches, unveiling the workmanship.
“I just want to thank everybody for coming out today,” Susan said, while holding the microphone. “As many of you know, I’m taken aback by how supportive and how loving … how wonderful everyone has been. They continue to support us. We wouldn’t be able to be at this place without all of you. I love all of you. We love all of you. Thank you for looking out for my boys too.”
“And I’m sorry for all of you who have gone through this as well,” she added. “I just wanted to use this event to bring awareness in hopes there’s less and less of this.”
The plaque on the new bench says: “Kyle James Granello, 1997-2022: Beloved son, grandson, brother, nephew and friend.”
Words from Ryan Leaf
Susan said the gazebo is a good spot for the bench, because it is close to her family’s home. “We want to use this as fentanyl awareness,” she said, adding of her son, “he would want something good to come out of this.”
Rooney spoke of how most people know someone who was affected by the abuse of opioids. “As a community, we have to be strong,” he said. “We have to be vigilant. We have to teach our children to stay away from even a one time use.”
The first selectman said former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst, Ryan Leaf, who lives in Monroe and had his own bouts with drug use, wanted to be there Saturday, but had to cover an event in Ireland.
Rooney read a statement from Leaf:
Like in every community, tragedy continues to strike because of stigma and the opioid epidemic. This is now my and my family’s community. When I traveled around this country speaking, when addressing the younger population, I always spoke to the understanding of “why” you are doing what you are doing. Why you choose to want to alter your mood. Regardless of recreational in the eyes of the beholder, you want to alter your mood for a reason.
This has become an understanding that no longer presents a reality, because of the introduction of life threatening fentanyl into these fraudulent medications that now may offer one interaction and a human life, just like Kyle’s, is gone.
We are responsible for one another in this community and therefore it is our duty to step up and become a change agent — all of us. To defeat the stigma around mental illness and substance use disorder and make our kids understand that what was once a long activating disease, now can take apart a family in one fatal dose.
Leaf is program ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community, which has locations in Los Angeles, Houston and New York.
‘Just a great kid’
Farnham remembers Kyle for his sense of humor, charisma and as someone who was personable.
“He was able to talk to people of all ages and get along with all people,” she said. “They would open up to him. He would hear someone from high school was having a tough time and reach out. He really wanted to help people and he was good at it.”
Kyle played baseball, which was his favorite sport, youth football and also took karate. “He regretted not playing high school baseball,” Susan said.
“He had a strong arm,” Farnham said, recalling a time when Kyle threw her lacrosse ball “two acres” into her pond. “He felt bad and got it,” she said with a smile. “His shoes were drenched in mud.”
Kyle set Farnham up with her boyfriend Eric DeMace, who attended Saturday’s dedication ceremony with her. “We always say the gift he left us was each other,” Farnham said. “We met at Kyle’s birthday party and we clicked. He coordinated us hanging out and excused himself. He was a very good wingman.”
Susan said Kyle lived long enough to see his twin brothers, Ryan and Owen, graduate from Masuk in 2022. “He was a very proud brother. He couldn’t be happier,” she said. “He was a great big brother. They meant a great deal to him.”
“He was always the brother I looked up to,” Owen said. “He always wanted us to do right by our parents and our grandparents. He was always looking out after us,” Owen said, before looking at the crowd around him and adding, “obviously, as you can see, a lot of people cared about him.”
“He would always help you with your problems in a nonjudgemental way,” Owen said. “He softened things. He really made things a lot easier. He was always there for the family if anyone ever needed anything. I can live for him. That’s what keeps me moving forward, being there for the family.”
Kyle’s grandmother, Jeri Granello, was among the close relatives in attendance.
“It was wonderful. It was a wonderful thing to make people aware,” she said of the ceremony. Of her grandson, she said, “he was a wonderful, happy … just a great kid. He was special. He was a good kid, very polite, very respectful of others.”
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
I wish I was there. The Granello Family is extremely Generous, Thoughtful, Loveable etc… Kyle was a Beautiful soul inside and out. Love, Blessings and Peace to his Family and Friends. XOXO ❤️ XOXO