By Luther Turmelle, North Bureau Chief

WALLINGFORD — Robert Spodick devoted his life to bringing happy endings to generations of area movie fans as owner of Lincoln Theater and York Square Cinema, both in New Haven.

Now nearly 90 and fighting to recover from pneumonia, the former movie impresario needed a little help in the happy ending department when it came time to give his youngest child, and only daughter, Rebecca Spodick, 43, a wedding she would never forget.

That’s where the staff of Gaylord Hospital took a starring role. With Robert Spodick under their care and unable to leave the hospital grounds, Gaylord representatives helped Rebecca Spodick and her new husband, Anthony Mentzer, 42, plan and pull together a wedding in just five weeks.

“I can’t begin to thank them enough for all they’ve done,” Rebecca Spodick said of the role the hospital staff played in making her dream of having her father give her away come true.

The couple lives in Woodbridge. They met at Amity Regional High School in the mid-1980s.

Ellen Paine, a manager in Gaylord’s Care Management Department, said hospital officials were pleased they could help.

“This is what it means when we say total patient care,” Paine said.

And the couple’s nuptials Tuesday night were not just a simple bedside affair, either. The happy couple had a full-blown ceremony with 20 people at one of the hospital’s oldest and most stately buildings.

Spodick and Mentzer were married in the 82-year-old Brooker Building, named after Charles Brooker of Ansonia, a member of the hospital’s original board of directors. And while it is part of a hospital, the interior of the Brooker Building has an elegance that made it fit for a wedding.

The main foyer, where the ceremony was held, is lined with oak and inlaid rosewood. And Rebecca Spodick got to make a grand entrance, walking down a long, arching staircase from a balcony that overlooked the proceedings. Continued...

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Robert Spodick couldn’t speak as he waited for the ceremony to start; an operation to remove his larynx has made talking difficult. But as he sat in his wheelchair and was rolled down the aisle with his daughter at his side to where Rabbi Herbert Brockman of Congregation Mishkan Israel waited to perform the ceremony, a proud smile spread across his face.

“I would have gone anywhere to perform this ceremony,” Brockman said after the service. “This was really for the father of the bride. He needs something to look forward to and they gave it to him.”

Edward Spodick, one of Rebecca’s four brothers, flew in from his home in Hong Kong to serve as master of ceremonies for the wedding. He said that even though his father couldn’t speak, the ceremony had moved him.

“I think that’s why the machine started beeping in the middle of the ceremony,” Edward Spodick said of a monitor that his father was hooked up to. “It was a really emotional moment for him and I think that’s what set it off.”

Luther Turmelle can be reached at lturmelle@nhregister.com or 203-789-5706.

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