NORWICH – According to those who were closest to Mayor Robert Raphael Jr., he was a man with simple and endearing characteristics; but he was by no means a simple man.

Following his memorial service, family, friends, colleagues, employees, and a host of fellow citizens gathered Friday afternoon in the City of Norwich Firehouse, “The House that Bob built,” as Fire Chief John Tighe calls it, to remember all the different ways he made their lives better.