Service for Father of Beirut Hostage

Residents of the Hy-Lond Convalescent Hospital in Westminster held a memorial service Monday for Glen Anderson, the father of Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, one of seven Americans being held hostage in Beirut.

Anderson died last weekend of cancer in Batavia, N.Y., said Nancy Fontaine, activities director of the convalescent hospital, whose residents have “adopted” the hostages and stay in close contact with their families.

“I was in touch with him every day since he was last here in December,” Fontaine said. “He wanted to see his son before he died.”

The hospital gained national attention in December, when a “welcome home” prayer ceremony for the Rev. Benjamin Weir, a hostage released in September, was attended by about 40 relatives from the hostage families, including Anderson.

Some hospital residents Monday wore pictures of the hostages pinned to their clothing with yellow and black ribbon. Father Michael Pontarelli, whose fellow Servite priest, Father Lawrence Jenco, is also being held captive in Beirut, said Mass to about 60 people at the same time that a service was being conducted for the senior Anderson in Batavia.