By Richard Weir
The Boston Herald
PEABODY, Mass. — Jim Rice would bring home doughnuts at the end of his shift and find time to walk his kids to school — but now the unassuming firefighter called ‘a super family man’ will be forever missed by his loved ones who grieved last night in the jake’s Peabody home where wrapped presents sat beside a lit Christmas tree.
‘He was definitely happiest when he was with his family,’ Brian Goldsworthy, the brother-in-law of fallen 42-year-old firefighter, told the Herald last night.
Goldsworthy stopped to salute Rice, a Peabody native, before heading into the jake’s house to console Rice’s wife, Amy, and three kids, Alyssa, 11, Katelyn, 9 and Ryan, 7. ‘He was humble. That was Jim. He would extend a helping hand to anybody and he would do so quietly,’ Goldsworthy said.
Instead of looking forward to spending Christmas Eve together with their two families, Goldsworthy reminisced about the good times they shared at his Plymouth beach house Thanksgiving weekend celebrating Amy Rice’s birthday and playing with their children.
‘He adored his kids,’ Goldsworthy’s wife, Courtney, said of Rice, adding that no matter how long his shift was he always managed to walk his kids to school. ‘He was always there for their soccer games and bringing home doughnuts at the end of his shift.’
At Engine Co. 5, the 11-year veteran earned the admiration of his fellow firefighters with his easy demeanor, quick jokes and charitable streak that led him to volunteer to help run a relief service to support the families of injured or fallen firefighters.
Russell Lewis, head of the union that represents Peabody firefighters, described the soft-spoken Rice as having ‘a heart of gold.’
‘He always had a smile on his face,’ he said. ‘He always liked coming to work. He was always there for helping out people, if you needed something.’
Words came hard to Rice’s fellow jakes as they recalled their fallen brother. ‘He was a really stand-up guy. A super family man,’ said a Peabody firefighter who worked with Rice. ‘I would go into a building with him anytime. He loved being a firefighter. ... It’s devastating.’
Rice regretted missing some of his city’s bigger fires, according to Brian Goldsworthy, who used to tease him about it.
‘We were joking about it (just today),’ he said, standing near several hospital bags left by Rice’s porch containing the smoky boots and bunker gear he wore yesterday. ‘And this happened.’
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