Nick Serratore, 64; devoted life to firefighting

“He was one of the old-time firefighters,’’ said Danvers Fire Captain Doug Conrad said. “He actually ran into the fire without a mask on.’’

But after 30 years of fighting fires, Mr. Serratore developed breathing problems, Conrad said. Hacking and coughing, he could not keep up with the day-to-day life of a firefighter, and he retired on disability in 2006. Conrad said that because Mr. Serratore loved his job, colleagues had to pressure him to retire.

“He hated the fact that he had to leave here,’’ Conrad said. “He thought he was too young to retire.’’

Mr. Serratore continued to drop by the station to visit friends and crack jokes with those on duty. “We’d get him laughing, and he’d almost choke he was laughing so hard,’’ Conrad said.

Mr. Serratore died Saturday of a lung infection at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington. The Byfield resident was 64.

Mr. Serratore grew up in Winchester, the youngest of four children of Francesco and Caterina Serratore. He graduated from Winchester High School in the early 1960s. He then enlisted in the US Marine Corps, serving two years in North Carolina.

After he returned to Winchester, he was a self-employed carpenter, building mostly cabinets for about 10 years. On weekends, he drummed with the Winchester Queensmen Drum and Bugle Corps for seven years.

Mr. Serratore married his first wife, Lauren, and moved to Ipswich. The couple had two children.

He joined the Ipswich Fire Department in 1976 and transferred to Danvers Fire in 1982.

After his first marriage ended in divorce, Mr. Serratore moved to Byfield in the late 1990s. He married his second wife, Carole, last year.

In his later years, he loved to fish and often traveled to Florida.

“He was happy-go-lucky,’’ said his brother, Frank of Fitchburg. “He was always smiling and easy to get along with.’’

Conrad said Mr. Serratore had tried to get a lung transplant after retiring, but doctors said he had sufficient lung capacity to survive. They planned to put him on the transplant list if his condition worsened, Conrad said.

About a month ago, Mr. Serratore was hospitalized with a lung infection, which doctors diagnosed as pulmonary fibrosis, and he was put on ventilation. Two weeks later, another infection killed him. His passing is considered a line-of-duty death.

In nightly announcements this week, Danvers firefighters have listened to a tribute to their late colleague: “Nick was a dedicated firefighter, who performed his job competently and with poise,’’ the tribute reads. “He had a keen ability to lighten any situation, no matter how stressful, with his great sense of humor.’’

In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Serratore leaves a daughter, Nicole of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a son, Matt of Salem, a Marblehead firefighter; his sister, Catherine McElhinney of Ipswich; and three stepchildren, Derek MacIntyre, Keira Harrell, and Kelyn Harrell, all of Ipswich.

A Mass was said Tuesday at Our Lady of Hope Parish in Ipswich. Firefighters and trucks from fire departments in Danvers, Ipswich, and Marblehead joined the funeral procession.