LAWRENCE — Linda Toomey eulogized her dad a devoted husband and father who treated members of the Lawrence Fire Department "like they were his family too."
"He liked to cook for the firefighters," she recalled last week on the eve of a memorial Mass for Richard L. Lacey, 85, the retired fire chief who died July 3.
"On holidays, he'd make baked stuff lobster," said Toomey, of North Andover, a pre-school special education teacher.
Lacey, a 33-year veteran of the city's Fire Department, left the fire service and the city nearly three decades ago to live out his life in Barefoot Bay, a retirement community on Florida's east coast.
But Toomey said she learned a short time after her dad's death that he's still remembered and revered in his hometown city where he worked tirelessly to become the best chief the community ever had.
When Toomey called the Fire Department a couple of weeks ago, the man who answered the phone said he was a rookie firefighter under her dad and noted that the department had already lowered the flag in his honor.
"I still run into retired firefighters who tell me 'Your dad was the best chief I ever worked under'," Toomey said. "My dad was kind of an unsung hero, who never sought any praise. When you're a chief, you give commands," she said. "But he was not the type to just give commands and stand back. He was always in the thick of it. If he wasn't working, he'd still be at the fire. And the chief doesn't have to be at the fires. He fought behind the scenes for things for a lot of people."
People on Prospect Hill have him to thank for a water tower being erected there. When he became chief in March 1975, one of his first goals was to address that area's low water pressure. So, he lobbied to get a 1.5 million gallon water reservoir built. A Community Development Block Grant enabled him to accomplish his mission.
Lacey was also credited with quadrupling the number of first aid instructors in the area. He personally instructed more than 300 people on how to teach first aid. His involvement with the Lawrence Chapter of the American Red Cross lasted for 30 years, nurturing a special relationship that helped fire victims who had been displaced from their homes.
He helped found the Lawrence Firefighters Municipal Credit Union, serving as treasurer and manager from 1955 to 1975.
Lacey was responsible for bringing lime green fire trucks to the city, advocating lime green as a better color for emergencies.
"He began promoting the use of smoke detectors when it wasn't a popular thing, I guess because he wanted everybody to be safe," Toomey said.
"My father seldom missed a day of work. He would go into burning buildings where he didn't have to. Wherever he could help people, he would. I think he's touched a lot of peoples lives," she said.
As one of 11 children, he had a passion to help others since early childhood. He dreamed about becoming a doctor. But he sacrificed that potential career for the sake of his younger brother. The family could only afford to send one child to college. His brother went to the Berklee College of Music and became a musician.
"I became a firefighter because I thought it would be exciting," Lacey said in a 1981 interview as his career drew to close.
"The more I worked, the more I enjoyed the job. I looked forward to coming to work every day," he said.
Lacey was so dedicated to learning and advancing his career that he would study for civil service promotional exams during family trips to Salisbury Beach.
As dedicated as he was to his job, family always came first, Toomey recalled.
"He always had time for the family. He taught my son how to play chess. He had time to help my husband build a swing set for the back yard and a tree house and sand box for the kids," Toomey said.
"As busy as he was, he always found time for the grandchildren. He was a good carpenter. He actually built our first home in South Lawrence, at Colonial Heights. My mom would pack a lunch and my father would work on the house all day and all night on the days he wasn't working," she said.
His wife, Rose Tuso Lacey, supported her husband.
On the day he was named chief, she posed for a newspaper photo with her arms around him. She was a regular at the fire scenes that Lacey visited.
"They called her Deputy Rose because she went to all the fires," Toomey said. "She was worried about him and wanted to make sure he was okay. I remember as a child, her bringing us out to fires.
"If it was a real serious fire and she knew he was going to be away for a while, she'd pack us up in the car. I remember she actually took us out in our pajamas a few times. He'd be one of the first into the fire. Sometimes in the winter, he would come out with frozen eyebrows. I remember seeing my father coming out on a balcony trying to get air," she said.
When Toomey and her sister, Janet Yang of Penn Valley, Pa., were children, Lacey held fire drills at home.
"After one tragic fire, he just broke down and told us never to hide under the bed or in the closet," Toomey said.
"He taught us how to protect ourselves in the event of a fire. We'd have to practice and hold fire drills. He would yell 'fire,' and we would have to close our eyes, fall out of bed and crawl out low."
