Brockton Firefighters regrets to announce the passing of retired firefighter Joseph J. Mather

Joseph J. Mather, age 97, of Assonet, passed away on Monday, September 1, 2025, at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River. He was the husband of the late Barbara V. (Williams) Mather. 

Born and raised in Brockton, he was the son of the late John and Fannie (Khoury) Mather. 

He served his country proudly in the United States Navy during World War II. 

Joe worked as a firefighter for the City of Brockton for 36 years prior to retirement. He was a bartender at Christo’s Restaurant on the east side of Brockton for 40 years. Joe’s nickname was “Joe Fix” as he could fix or repair anything. 

He is survived by his three children, Joseph P. Mather and his wife Susan (Millett) of Sagamore Beach; Peter J. Mather of Brockton, Christopher R. Mather of Assonet. Five grandchildren; James Mather, Cruz Mather, William Styles Rademacher, Andrew Mather; Two great-grandchildren; Justin and Olivia Mather. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews. 

Joe was predeceased by his daughter, Karen Rademacher; his siblings, George Mather, Danny Mather, Vivian Mendoza, Theodora Slazas, Henrieta Swanson, Naurice Petrone, and Helen LaCouture; and his granddaughter, Julie Mather. 

Visiting hours will be held on Monday, September 8, 2025, from 3-8 pm, with the Service of Incense beginning at 7:30 pm, in the Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont Street (Rte. 123) Brockton. The procession will gather at the funeral home on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at 9:15 am, for the Service of Divine Mysteries at St. Theresa Maronite Church at 10:30 am. Burial with military honors will follow in Calvary Cemetery.

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