New London — Peace and blessings!

See, there was no other way for this column to start. Not when the subject is Elder L. David Cornish. That was his thing. (That and playing the sax.) But much like the Soup Nazi had "no soup for you!" and J.J. had "dy-no-mite!" on "Good Times," Elder Cornish never failed to drop "peace and blessings!" on one and all.

Elder Cornish is at peace now. And the blessings were all ours Tuesday at Miracle Temple Church attending a celebration of his life. It was a true celebration, too. No time for sadness. Not for a man whose mere presence made everyone he encountered feel just a bit better about themselves and their circumstances.

Elder Cornish preached in New London at Mt. Moriah from 1965-89 and 1997-2016. Life took him to Canada, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. too. A cheerful, gentle soul whose life as a Christian educator and counselor sustained Elder Mark Balleu's eulogy about him and the people among us who fight the good fight.

Elder Cornish gave sons Eric and Dave to the local sports community. Eric, an effortless gentleman (and quite the artist) played on state championship football and basketball teams at New London High. He broke up Ansonia's potential game-tying two-point conversion late in the 1992 state championship game and played on the basketball team that won it all in 1994 with the great Tyson Wheeler.

Dave is the very successful boys' basketball coach at Ledyard High, leading the Colonels to the 2017 ECC title and to numerous trips deep in the Class LL Tournament. Dave, always nattily attired, has an uncanny ability to coach hormonal, adolescent boys without swearing or drinking. I can't even WATCH basketball without swearing or drinking. Don't know how he does it, other than to say Elder Cornish imparted his wisdom quite well on his sons.

There is no one anecdote or nugget that truly defines Elder Cornish's 83 years with us, other than the overarching message that Rev. Benjamin K. Watts delivered Tuesday during one of the many tributes.

Rev. Watts: "Elder Cornish always made it work. You were feeling great? He made it work. You weren't feeling great? He made it work. The sax sounded great? He made it work. The sax wasn't sounding so great? He made it work."

Perhaps we can absorb the significance of "making it work" here in this new abnormal. We hear frequently that it's not what life deals us, but how we respond to it. Elder Cornish chose to deal with the good and bad with peace and blessings. And couldn't we all learn something from that.

Later, Elder Balleu talked about succeeding Elder Cornish at Mt. Moriah. He was told numerous times he had "big shoes to fill." Elder Balleu, rather than filling shoes, spoke of "walking in the shoeprints" of those who have fought the good fight. His words were deep and powerful — almost as deep and powerful as the way he delivered them.

Maybe when we all walked out of the church Tuesday, we could piece together the concepts of Rev. Watts and Elder Balleu: Walk in the shoeprints of those who came before us simply by making it work — no matter the circumstances.

No better way to spend 83 years.

Elder Cornish would have loved his life's celebration. Happy and uplifting. Just the way he'd have done it.

"I've been doing this for 50 years," said Reid Burdick, who helped oversee the celebration Tuesday, a man who has witnessed thousands and thousands of funerals and memorial services while working for Byles Memorial Home.

"In those 50 years," he said, "Elder Cornish is the most powerful preacher I've ever seen."

And the celebration of his life underscored the man's passion and utter decency.

This time, we get to offer the peace and blessings, Elder Cornish. You made New London a better place.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro