Wisc. City Honors Paramedic/Firefighter Who Battled Cancer
March 02--Flags are flying at half staff in Brookfield this week to honor Marcia Rosecky, a paramedic and the city's first female firefighter.
Rosecky died Saturday after a long battle with leukemia. She was 41
"She was an amazing person," Brookfield Fire Chief Charlie Myers said Wednesday.
"She set the example for all the others."
Rosecky was a 1993 graduate of Middleton High School, where she was a member of the school's volleyball and a star pitcher on its softball team.
She began her career at Middleton Volunteer Fire Department in 1996 and joined the Brookfield department in the spring of 1997.
Her husband-to-be, David Rosecky, joined the Brookfield department in 1998. They married in 2000. Their son, Fletcher, was born 10 years later.
Rosecky received the City of Brookfield Distinguished Service Award in 2005 and, after her service-related cancer put her on duty disability in 2008, the city's Retirement Award.
Rosecky's death is a grim reminder that cancer is among the myriad risks to which firefighters are exposed, Myers said.
Even with improved preventive measures, Myers said, "we have higher rates of cancer largely due to job exposure."
Myers referred to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, which in 2013 released a study that called cancer "a looming personal catastrophe for each and every firefighter."
"Cancer is the most dangerous and unrecognized threat to the health and safety of our nation's firefighters," the report says.
Besides her husband of 15 years and her 5-year-old son, Rosecky is survived by her father, Ted Helleckson, and her siblings Joleen and Ted.
Marcia Rosecky
Visitation will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at St. Bernard Catholic Church, Middleton, with services immediately following. A graveside service with Fire Fighter Honors will held afterward at First Lutheran Cemetery, Middleton.
In lieu of flowers, the Rosecky family is establishing the Firefighter/Paramedic Marcia Rosecky Memorial Fund through Madison College to benefit women who want to pursue a career in firefighting and emergency medicine.
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