Pelham News : community

‘Heart of gold’ – Community rallies around Pelham boy battling brain cancer

Salem Editor — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:50:00 GMT

When Robert Duffy Jr. was brought into the Pelham Memorial School cafeteria one day in late September, his fellow seventh-graders greeted him with a thunderous standing ovation.

Robert, 13, is battling brain cancer, and his surprise visit – when Assistant Principal Tom Adamakos pushed his wheelchair into the room – was the first time students had seen him since the previous school year.

On the day of his appearance, there were laughs, hugs and tears.

“The kids were thrilled to have him in their midst,” said Principal Cathy Pinsonneault.

A malignant tumor discovered in Robert’s brain – known as a primitive neuroectodermal tumor, or PNET – is an aggressive form of cancer that can spread easily in the brain and spinal cord. Later this month, he will undergo his sixth round of chemotherapy.

The community has rallied to help Robert, who is known for his humor and love of baseball, and his family.

“It’s just amazing,” said his mother, Christine. “I’m so thankful and blown away by it.”

Students and employees at the town’s schools have contributed money. Supporters have participated in a fundraising program – the Robert Duffy Homerun Fund – in which every dollar represented a base hit and every $4 was a homerun.

Memorial students also paid $1 each to wear a baseball hat one day, and teachers bought a special T-shirt for $10 or paid $3 to wear jeans.

“I had no trouble bringing the kids along,” Pinsonneault said. “They love a good cause and they love Robert. Kids embraced the spirit to take care of one of their own. They circle the wagons. It’s one of them.”

In the spring, Robert underwent six weeks of radiation of the brain and spinal cord. Representatives of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute spoke to students at Memorial School in May. They talked about his illness and treatment, what he was going through, why he was losing his hair.

Christine and Robert’s father, Robert Sr., who lives in Natick, Mass., are proud of their son’s courage.

“He really amazes me,” Christine said.

She laughs when she remembers one morning, during a time when Robert was very sick, when he came into her room and approached her bed.

“Hey lady, is this seat taken?” he asked before lying down next to his mother.

Robert’s illness has been tough on him and sometimes got him down. Medicine he takes has weakened his legs, requiring physical therapy and braces. He has lost weight, and his vision has become blurry.

Greeting cards and visits from friends boost his spirits. In August, he enjoyed a wonderful day when he and his family went to Fenway Park as part of the Jimmy Fund Radiothon.

He read the Red Sox lineup on TV, served as a ball boy, met pitcher Jon Lester, and announced Manny Ramirez on deck in the sixth inning. Dustin Pedroia gave Robert his batting gloves.

“Robert has a heart of gold,” said Christine. “He’s one of those people who sees the good in everyone. He just has big heart. He wants to make people feel good.”

On the baseball diamond, he kept his Little League teammates upbeat. After one of Christine’s friends, Robin Schiller, chaperoned a school trip, Robert made her an American flag, thanking her and telling her she touched his heart. When Robin’s autistic son, C.J., was being picked on by another student, Robert told him to stop.

Schiller and another friend, Cheryl McLean, have been raising money for Robert in the community. It was C.J.’s desire to help Robert that spurred the fundraising.

“He’s just an upbeat, funny, lovable kid,” Schiller said of Robert. “If someone was feeling down, he brought them up.”

On Friday, Nov. 2, Robert will return to Memorial School to serve as the official starter of its annual pig race contest, and with Christine, he will receive a large check representing the money raised at the schools and from businesses. A benefit for him is also planned for that evening at Harris’ Pelham Inn.

Christine will use the money she’s receiving to pay for medical expenses and, hopefully, Robert’s college education.

“We just have an unconditional love for Robert as a person and as a child,” said McLean. “They’re a very giving family. He was such a joy to see on the baseball field. Of all the kids I know who play sports, he stands out in my mind. He always gave a thousand percent of himself.”

New police chief aims for community ties

Salem Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:38:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Joe Roark takes pride in the Pelham Police Department being a community-oriented force.

That won’t change when he becomes the department’s next leader, and he wants to expand ties to residents.

“I want to make sure we have community-based programs that touch all the segments, demographics of our town,” he said.

In particular, he’d like to start programs that help the elderly against fraud, telephone schemes and con men.

And he would like to see citizens academies, multi-week programs where officers teach residents about police work.

“That’s a program I think we can easily put in place,” he said.

Roark, 38, will become police chief on Friday, April 20. He succeeds Evan Haglund, who is leaving to become police chief in Topsfield, Mass.

“I think there will be some things that will be challenging and stimulating,” Roark said of his new job. “I’m very excited about it.”

He was unanimously chosen by selectmen as the best choice for chief out of 10 applicants for the job, according to selectmen chairman Ed Gleason.

Roark started as a patrolman in Pelham in 1996 and has worked his way up the ranks. He became the department’s first and only lieutenant in 2001 and was promoted to captain, his current position, in 2005.

Roark holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from University of Massachusetts Lowell, went through a police academy in Florida, and has a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Western New England College.

Pelham’s police force is the only one he has worked for and he has remained in town 11 years, despite opportunities to work elsewhere.

“I felt like it was a department that was moving up,” he said. “I feel that every year I’ve been here we’ve gotten better. I live in Pelham. I think it’s a great town.”

He said he was fortunate that the two chiefs he served under used a merit-based promotion process.

“I started my career later in life,” Roark said. “I was 27 years old when I was hired as a patrolman.

So I think I had the life experience and maturity that some of the officers who start in their early 20s need time on the job to develop. Because I started a little bit later in life and had that worldly experience, I was able to move through the ranks a little bit more rapidly than others.”

Roark will oversee a department of 19 full-time officers, several part-time officers and civilian employees, and a budget of roughly $2.1 million.

“I’m going to evaluate some things when I first get started here,” he said. “Chief Haglund is leaving me an effective department, professional department. I’m going to evaluate a few things and maybe keep it going in the same direction with some of my own personal traits put on it. I don’t plan on any major changes in the near future.”

One of his goals is to conduct a town-wide survey to gauge the public’s opinions and expectations of the department. He will tailor job functions to public needs, he said.

And he also plans to survey employees to identify and solve any problems they’re having.

“I think I’m a hard worker,” Roark said. “I’m passionate. I feel like I have drive, and I also try to get the best out of everyone who’s around me, and, likewise, I want them to get the best out of me.”

Roark, a native of Chelmsford, Mass., is one of nine children. All his brothers work in law
enforcement, including his twin brother, John, who is a detective in Chelmsford.

Roark and his wife, Kerry, a special education teacher at Woodbury School in Salem, have a 2-year-old son, Colin.

As chief, he will earn a starting salary of $85,000.

Roark, who will be sworn in during a May 1 ceremony, said he wants his officers to strive to make their department the best it can be.

“I’m not talking about just getting by,” he said. “I want this to be the best police department in the area.”