Eleven years ago, as a firefighter in Delta, Colo., Parenteau had a cyst removed from his knee but didn't think anything of it. What seemed like a simple melanoma began to spread earlier this year, to his lungs, then to his liver, and into his spine.
He had worked as a cabinet-maker for Premium Wood Work of Tewksbury, but to the men of Pepperell Engine Company No. 1 and its auxiliary, "Bill" was, and will always be remembered as a firefighter.
"He loved the fire department," said Chief Costa Bozicas. "He wasn't here that long and I didn't know him all that well but even when he could barely see, he'd read right through a fire department magazine if you gave him one."
Born in Brighton, Parenteau spent his childhood in Maynard and Chelmsford. He graduated from Chelmsford High School in 1988. Six years later he moved to Colorado, joined the fire department and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He moved to Pepperell in 2001 and asked to join the fire department.
Engine Company No. 1 Capt. Peter Shattuck remembers it well.
"I had two positions open in the company at that time. I said let's see if anyone who wants to help someone applies for the job," Shattuck said. "Bill was in the office the same day. Vinnie [Pepperell firefighter Vinnie Messina] brought him in.
"I told him to show up for a few calls if he was serious about the job. He did and he was voted in the next month," Shattuck said.
When his weight had dropped from 210 to 160 pounds and could no longer work, Parenteau kept showing up.
"I'm helping out, doing what I can," he said in an April 2004 interview. "I can't do much but...I can't be lying around thinking. I've helped people for a long time."
Parenteau said he was being a "guinea pig" for cancer research, taking two pills daily and checking his progress monthly. "The numbers for patients like me is 10 percent," he said matter-of-factly, "but I don't plan on it."
Even when he could barely walk, Parenteau showed up at the fire department's first annual golf tournament to raise money for its association that helps, among other things, the less fortunate. The next day, he was rushed to the hospital, barely able to breathe, after the exertion.
Shattuck said when Parenteau was diagnosed, he asked whether he should step down and not take up space on the department.
"People in this company stick together," Shattuck said. "He got the message that the position was his until he said he was done."
That message was quietly delivered very recently. Shattuck said he told Parenteau he had better get his behind back to Boston where he was sure the researchers had something they could try.
"Not this time, he said to me. I love the fire department. I planned on staying here forever," Shattuck said Wednesday. "I told him to get moving. He walked out of my office, with his cane...."
Shattuck said Parenteau had asked for full fire department honors when he died. That will take place Thursday, Dec. 16, with multiple departments present. He will be buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
In his April 2004 interview, Parenteau asked to get the message out about how bad melanoma is.
"It starts on the skin but if undetected, spreads to the lymph nodes and organs and you can't stop it," he said. "I want the word out that it isn't skin cancer and it isn't always from the sun. It can be a mole.
"I don't mind having it," Parenteau said, "but not kids. It kills me to see kids have it."
Throughout Parenteau's battle, the men of Engine Company No. 1 stood by their brother firefighter, taking him to the hospital and holding fund-raisers to help defray huge medical expenses. They set up at Parenteau Family Fund at North Middlesex Savings Bank, have held a comedy night, delivered pizza by fire engine to raise money and set up collection boxes.
"I feel bad because Company 1 put their lives on hold to help," Parenteau had said in April.
Wednesday, Shattuck was busy organizing the funeral procession with area departments.
"Bill was a good friend," he said, "and I appreciate them [other departments] coming down. We're not in this for nothing, we're here to take care of him and put him into a better place."
Besides his wife, son, and parents, Florida resident William Parenteau Sr. and Clare (Tuite) Allaby of Westford, Parenteau is survived by his stepfather, Raymond Allaby of Westford; a brother, Keith Parenteau of Methuen; a sister, Susan Hilberg of Shirley; and many nieces and nephews.
