It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Richard P. Donahue on

Saturday, December 14, 2024 at the age of 80. He was the beloved husband of Donna

(Galante) Donahue.

Dick was born on February 3, 1944 in Brockton and was the son of the late Lawrence

G. Donahue and Anne A. (Paulin) Donahue. Raised in Brockton he graduated from

Brockton High School in 1962 and enlisted in the Army shortly after, serving proudly

during the Vietnam War. Dick was a crew chief with Co. A, 502nd Aviation Battalion,

Helicopter Division and received 12 Air Medals during his distinguished military career.

Dick served as a Firefighter for the City of Brockton for 29 years before retiring. He

loved being a Firefighter and met many lifelong friends during his service to the city.

There was so much more to Dick than being a husband, a dad, a papa, a brother and

an uncle, he was a great friend, coworker, biker, golfer, skier, gardener, master

carpenter, the list goes on and on.

Dick met the love of his life Donna when they were 16 years old and married in 1965.

Together they built a beautiful life and family. They traveled many places with

their Firefighter families, visiting old Vietnam Veteran friends, vacationing with family and

wintering in Lido Key, Florida. Most of all Dick enjoyed spending time with his family and

he loved them very much.

He is survived by his wife, Donna (Galante) Donahue, his children, Kathleen Keating

and her husband Tom, Kristine Barbati and her husband Jim and Richard Donahue, Jr.

and his longtime partner Janice Quevillon. He was a loving Papa to Mack Keating,

Karlie Keating, Jake Barbati, Jenna Barbati, James Barbati, Chloe Quevillon and Reese

Quevillon. They brought him so much joy and happiness. He is also survived by many

nieces and nephews whom he had a very close relationship with. He was preceded in death by his parents Lawrence and Anne Donahue, his brothers Lawrence Donahue Jr., John Donahue, George Donahue and his sister Mary (Donahue)

Hayden.

Following cremation a Celebration of Life and Memorial Service will be held at the

Russell & Pica Funeral Home, 441 South Main St., (Rt. 28) West Bridgewater on

Saturday, January 4th from 12:00pm-2:00pm followed by a funeral service in the funeral

home at 2:00pm. There will be a private family burial at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 http://stjude.org

Arlene Doris (Irr) Bamford, of Brockton (81) passed away peacefully while at home after a brief illness surrounded by her children and grandchildren on December 15, 2024.

Arlene was born in Boston on September 27, 1943 to the late Anthony and Doris (McCarthy) Irr. She moved to Brockton at the age of 13 and attended Brockton Schools where she met the love of her life, the late Paul C. Bamford. Both she and Paul graduated from the “Old” Brockton High School in 1961. They were married for 52 years and remained in Brockton where they raised their four children.

Her passion in life was raising her children, being a homemaker and creating family traditions that will continue to be carried on by her children and grandchildren. In her earlier years, Arlene enjoyed bowling with her friends, camping trips to the Fishing Camp with extended family and friends being creative with her arts and crafts, and glue guns. Her favorite tradition was vacationing every summer on Hampton Beach with her family. Arlene defined the term “Nana” and she wore the name proudly to not only her seven grandchildren but to all who knew her as such.

She is predeceased by her husband Paul C. (BFD), her brother-in-law Robert Bamford, sister-in-law Ellen Irr and son-in-law Douglas Routhier. She is survived by her two brothers Anthony “Sonny” Irr of East Boston, William Irr and Sandy Rosselle of Marshfield. Her sister-in-law Dianne Bamford of Brockton, sister and brother-in-law Patricia and Kevin Alles of Brockton, many cousins nieces and nephews. Her legacy will carry on through her four children. Lynette Routhier, Doreen Bamford, Timothy Bamford(BFD) and his wife Jennifer, all of Brockton and Tracey Giordano and her husband Robert of Bridgewater. Nana to her seven grandchildren Brianna Bamford, Derek Routhier, Jenna Routhier, Stephen Bamford, Mackenzie Giordano, Ryan Giordano and Camden Giordano. Her beloved cat lucy who never left her side. She will be in heaven making shoes for elephants. “toodles to all”

Funeral from the Russell & Pica Funeral Home, 165 Belmont St., (Rt123) Brockton on Monday, December 23, at 9:30AM thence to Christ the King Parish, 54 Lyman St., Brockton where a funeral Mass will be celebrated for the repose of her soul at 10:30AM. Interment will follow in Calvary Cemetery. Calling hours in the Russell & Pica Funeral Home Sunday, December 22 from 2:00PM-6:00PM.

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

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.

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

Happy Holidays