Pat Hanley, at 55; was firefighter, EMT in Framingham and Sudbury

PAT HANLEY (Bill Miles)

Pat Hanley applied his motto - "whatever it takes" - to his life as a firefighter, as a carpenter, and as a tireless practical joker.

Born and raised in Framingham, John Patrick Hanley served the towns of Framingham and Sudbury as a firefighter and emergency medical technician for 30 years. He died of cancer Oct. 27 at his home in Southborough. He was 55.

Friends and family recalled a man who lived to help others and make people happy.

Giving the eulogy Oct. 31 for his friend and firefighting partner of 17 years, Sudbury Fire Captain Bill Miles spun a particular yarn about how the town arranged to have prisoners paint the outside of the firehouse. The prisoners all wore bright red Massachusetts of Department of Corrections jumpsuits, and the firefighters noticed that the guard was particularly tense and serious.

"Well, we all know that Pat looked at any serious situation as a call to action, so things were about to change," Miles told mourners at St. Stephen's Church in Framingham. Mr. Hanley found an extra pair of overalls, put them on, and then sprinted past the guard toward the woods.

"Once he got over the shock, the guard thought it was funny stuff," Miles said later in an interview.

Mr. Hanley graduated from Framingham South High School in 1971. He learned carpentry and firefighting. He went to the Massachusetts Fire Academy in Stow in the summer of 1978.

The state considers cancers of the head, neck, and lungs among firefighters to be job-related injuries. The tongue cancer that Mr. Hanley developed five years ago - despite never using tobacco - could have sent him home to retirement, but twice he beat cancer, and twice he returned to work before metastases to his lungs and brain pulled him away.

"He never wanted to give in to the cancer," said his wife, Erin (McCann). "He was always fighting. He said that when he wanted to retire, it was going to be on his terms."

Mr. Hanley was an avid outdoorsman who loved to visit his lakeside vacation home in New Hampshire to hunt, fish, and relax, his wife said. And in the winter, it was time to ski and play hockey.

The man who built the second floor of his home and seemingly never stopped moving didn't let his frustrations spill over when cancer required him to use a walker and wheelchair.

"For as sick as he was, he was always upbeat," his widow said.

"He was never afraid to do anything," Miles said. "As high up on the ladder as he needed to go he went. Whatever it takes. Doing remodeling work; whatever it takes. At a fire, if you needed to stretch a [hose] line to a third floor, he'd look at you and shrug his shoulders, and you knew."

In addition to his wife of 21 years, Mr. Hanley leaves his daughter, Olivia Jean, and a sister, Mariann, of Nantucket.