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October 13, 2024
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Updated: Oct. 13 (00:11)

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Obituary of William “Bill” J. Westcott

William "Bill" J. Westcott Obituary

William J. “Bill” Westcott, 81, of Norton, formerly of West Roxbury and West Somerville, died peacefully Oct. 9th, 2024, surrounded by his family. Bill was born in Cambridge to William B. Westcott and Jeannette A. (Corcoran) Westcott. He attended Cambridge public schools, and shortly after graduation he met his wife of 59 years, Lois R. (Kelley) Westcott. The couple married and moved to Somerville, where they raised their family and became involved in the life of St. Clement Parish.

Bill was a budget administrator on campus at MIT and later for MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a job he held until his retirement after 39 years at the Institute. In retirement, Bill spent time with Lois and their four kids and their growing families. His many hobbies included watching New England sports on TV, reading, golfing, going to Foxwoods, and having lots of laughs during countless family dinners, the holidays and family weekends in New Hampshire.

Bill is survived by his large and loving family: Lois, and their four children and their spouses: Kelli and Kevin Brower of Raynham; Bill Jr. & Laurie Westcott of North Andover; Susan & Todd Alessandri of Medway; and Fr. Matthew Westcott of Brockton,BFD Chaplain. He also leaves his grandchildren: Samantha Falcone and her partner James Comeau of Cumberland, RI; Jarrod Falcone of Stoughton and his partner Alli Leal; Jackson Alessandri and Cambria Alessandri of Medway. He was also lucky to inherit four additional granddaughters through marriage: Alexandra Brower of Easton and Noelle Brower of Halifax; Ashley Fichera of North Andover and Caitlin Fichera of Standish, ME. Bill is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Bill’s Funeral Mass will be held at St. Mary’s Church, 58 Carpenter Street, Foxborough. at 10 a.m. Wednesday, October 16th. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend calling hours on Tuesday, October 15th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Roberts and Sons Funeral Home, 30 South Street, Foxborough. Burial will be private. To leave an on-line condolence, please visit the funeral home website at www.robertsandsonsfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill’s memory to Fisher House Boston, P.O. Box 230, S. Walpole, MA 02071.

97th Anniversary of Brockton Firefighters Union Local 144

Brockton Firefighters IAFF Local 144 was chartered on November 25th 1918

Firefighter cancer rates should spur further action

Firefighter cancer rates should spur further action

An analysis of the health records of nearly 30,000 firefighters in three major American cities reaffirmed the conclusions of numerous smaller studies — professional firefighters have higher incidences of many cancers than the general population.

At this point the evidence seems incontrovertible.

"Compared with the U.S. population, we found small to moderate increases in risk for several cancer sites and for all cancers combined, stemming mostly from excess malignancies of the respiratory, digestive and urinary systems in otherwise healthy individuals," reports the Center for Disease Control's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in a study released in October. "Our findings are consistent with previous studies and strengthen evidence of a relation between firefighters' occupational exposure and cancer."

The study also found a strong link between firefighter exposure to asbestos and malignant mesothelioma.

"Given that asbestos is the only known causal agent for malignant mesothelioma, and firefighter exposures are probable, the excess is likely to be a causal association."

Since we accept the scientific findings linking firefighting to increased cancer risk, and since we highly value the service firefighters provide our communities, we accept that society has a responsibility to help firefighters mitigate the risk and, when cancer is diagnosed, to help firefighters and their families deal with it in the best way possible.

Mitigation, we expect, will prove less complicated than remediation.

Last Sunday we reported on local cancer risk mitigation efforts being led by Portsmouth Fire Lt. Russ Osgood and Dave Lang at the Professional Fire Fighters Association.

Osgood became passionate about firefighter cancer risk after seeing two of his colleagues, Sarah Fox and Jeff Bokum, die from cancer in 2011 and 2012. Now he is working with others in the state to educate firefighters about proper use of protective gear and the need to thoroughly wash after exposure to toxic chemicals at a fire scene. He notes that firefighters have no idea what toxins they're exposed to during a fire.

"You have no idea — maybe it's a meth lab, maybe it's a bunch of computers burning, you never know," he told Seacoast Sunday. "A car fire is a toxic soup. You've got rubber and plastic and foam and all that stuff burning. You see that heavy black smoke — well that smoke is unburned product."

"The reality is guys are going to get cancer and you've got to support them," Osgood said.

In 1987, the New Hampshire Legislature passed a law that presumed for the purpose of worker's compensation that all firefighter cancers were work related. That law was later found to be unconstitutional because it was an unfunded mandate. Now, in an attempt to help the law pass constitutional muster, Portsmouth state Rep. Laura Pantelakos intends to submit a bill for this legislative session to fully fund worker's compensation for firefighters with cancer.

While we agree with the intent of Pantelakos' bill, we certainly think the state owes it to taxpayers to assess the full costs of such a program to determine whether or not it is financially feasible. Exactly which firefighters would qualify and under which specific circumstances would need to be clearly spelled out. The success or failure of such a bill will be in its details.

If enhanced worker's compensation proves impractical we strongly urge Pantelakos and her legislative colleagues to explore other means of providing financial protection to the men and women in our fire departments who provide such a vital and often life-saving service to our communities.

SEACOASTONLINE.COM
 
Kids Christmas Party 2013

The Kid's Christmas Party Committee would like to thank all the members and family that helped in a successful day.  

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