PLAINFIELD — One of the longest-serving chiefs in Hampshire County, Plainfield Fire Chief Dennis Thatcher, 62 died Tuesday at Baystate Medical Center after a three-year battle with cancer.
“It is a very sad day for us,” Assistant Fire Chief David Alvord said. “Fortunately, we have a great department and we will come together and get through this.”
Thatcher was well known and highly respected throughout the hilltowns and nearby communities.
Select Board Chairman Howard Bronstein choked up when speaking of his friend and colleague.
“I loved the man,” he said through tears on Wednesday morning. “He was just such a good guy, always smiling when he talked and I don’t ever remember him raising his voice or being angry.”
Bronstein, who also served on the fire department for 25 years, said Thatcher was a valued and trusted leader.
“Dennis was always the guy in charge and you were happy to listen to him,” Bronstein said. “I knew that if I followed his instructions we would get the job done well and we would all go home safely.”
Retired Cummington Fire Chief Bernie Forgea who had worked with Thatcher over the years said he was a great supporter of rural fire departments.
“He had great character,” Forgea said. “He was a rock-solid individual who you looked forward to working with because you could really count on him.”
Like all hilltown fire departments, Plainfield is a volunteer department, and while all members are required to have the same skills and training as their paid counterparts in other cities and towns, they also hold down full-time jobs outside of the department.
“This man was a farmer, a husband a father and a fire chief,” Forgea said. “When you add all that up, you think, my goodness, how can someone do all that and do it so well?”
Theresa Thatcher was married to Dennis for what would have been 40 years this December.
The couple had a dairy farm, and they were both active in the community, with Theresa Thatcher serving as town clerk for nine years and participating on town committees.
“The firefighters and the fire department were his loves,” she said. “We used to joke that I came third.”
She said that when her husband was originally diagnosed three years ago with colon cancer that had metastasized into his liver, he was given just three months to live.
“But he made it to three years,” she said.
Born in Northampton, Dennis Thatcher lived all of his life in Plainfield.
He joined the fire department at 20 years old, in 1976. According to Alvord, he went on to become one of the youngest fire chiefs in the commonwealth.
“He and I both joined the department at the same time, when it was a very small and struggling department,” Alvord said. “When he became an EMT in 1978, that was really the beginning of the rural ambulance service.”
In 1982, Thatcher became an officer in the Plainfield Fire Department and was appointed chief in 1986, when former Chief Dutch Hathaway died of a heart attack. He remained fire chief until the day he died.
Under Thatcher’s leadership, Alvord said the fire department grew and became more modernized.
“He brought skills that will be very hard to replace,” Alvord said.
Alvord also credited Thatcher’s leadership with helping to rebuild the numbers of volunteer firefighters in the department, which had dropped off over the last several years.
“We have 20 people on the roster now. When he was first diagnosed we were down to 10,” Alvord said. “I haven’t seen numbers like that in 30 years. It’s almost like he said, we are now in great shape, I have done all I can do.”
Alvord said Thatcher would often become unwell during his fight with cancer, but would always rally, right up until the last several days of his life.
“He has been fighting multiple cancers for three years but he was at training sessions and was still involved as the fire chief,” Alvord said. “This came on about 10 days ago, and it just turned, and that was it.”
Theresa Thatcher said her husband was hospitalized at Baystate Medical Center on Sunday.
Bronstein said that despite the fact that Thatcher was ill, “he always did a great job on behalf of the town,”
“I am grateful for the work that he and I did together on the emergency management plan,” Bronstein said. “Not just because we got it done, but because I also got to spend time with Dennis, and he is the kind of person you just feel lucky to know.”
The chief’s death comes one week before Plainfield’s annual Firefighters Barbecue, the town’s biggest event of the year.
“It is going to be a tough one,” Alvord said.
Thatcher leaves his wife, as well as two sisters, Denise Sessions of Plainfield and Arlene Snape of Chesterfield.
“This family knows no bounds when it comes to their commitment to their town,” Forgea said. “I think it is now important that we support Theresa as we all say an appropriate and proper farewell to the chief.”
A service for Thatcher will take place at the Plainfield Congregational Church on Sunday, Sept. 8, in the afternoon after the regular church services. There will be a reception afterwards at the Public Safety Complex.