SAUGUS — Firefighters honored the life and legacy of one of their own at the department’s annual Firefighters Memorial Sunday Exercises.
This year’s service, held by the Saugus Firefighters Relief Association at Saugus Fire Headquarters, honored the life and career of Chuck “Coach” Shipulski, who served on the Saugus Fire Department for 42 years before his retirement in 2013. He died in August 2022 at the age of 72.
“Chuck is a rarity,” Capt. Billy Cross, who has been on the department for 29 years, said. “If you were to poll every guy who worked with Chuck across in his 40 years on the job, you couldn’t find one guy to say a bad thing about him.”
Shipulski lived in Saugus his whole life and spent several years as a youth sports coach, coaching baseball and hockey.
Sunday’s event featured more than 30 firefighters, first responders, family members, and other community members. Karen Shipulski, Chuck’s wife of 55 years, said the event showed how deep her husband’s relationship with the Saugus community was.
“Chuck was a tremendous man,” she said. “It was a blessing for everyone who got to know him and love him.”
Cross, who is also the president of Saugus Firefighters Local 1003, noted that Shipulski’s dedication to the job in his four decades of service was his legacy.
“When you’re a young firefighter and you try to measure yourself and try to see how you’re supposed to work, you need to look at Chuck,” Cross said. “Chucky was the benchmark on how to do this job.”
Cross said Shipulski would also be remembered for his ability to put his fellow firefighters at ease, noting his mastery of “kitchen table banter” in the firehouse.
“He touched so many lives in his short time on this earth,” Cross said. “His passing has definitely left a huge hole in all our hearts.”
Chuck’s daughter, Kara Shipulski, noted how important it was for her family to see how her father’s fellow firefighters and friends remembered him.
“It made us feel great,” Kara said. “It’s been a hard year and it felt like we were back with family again.”
Kara said one of her father’s best qualities was how much emphasis he placed on his long-term friends and how deeply many of his bonds were with his “brothers” on the fire department — bonds which she said were extended to the family.
Karen noted how important the family’s relationship with the department had been and how special it was to see everyone Sunday.
“All these guys, they’re like the second family to us,” Karen said. “You can’t say enough about them.”
Retired Saugus Fire Capt. William O’Malley was a close friend of Shipulski’s when they served together. He emphasized how welcoming Shipulski was.
“We were close, but he was close with everybody,” O’Malley said. “He didn’t pick one guy. Everybody could be with him.”
O’Malley, who served on the department for 36 years, said Shipulski was a standout firefighter.
“He was a firefighter’s firefighter,” O’Malley, who read the invocation at the ceremony, said.
Cross said the annual event, held for nearly 30 years on the second Sunday in June, was a way for families and members of the community to remember those on the department who have died, going back nearly a century. Close to 70 former Saugus firefighters from 1931 on were honored with the ringing of a memorial bell.
“It gets families together to recognize past firefighters who have done this job,” Cross said. “Life is so busy today … you get to sit back and remember a job well done.”
O’Malley said Sunday’s event allowed him to reflect on many of the firefighters he served with over the years. He praised the class and respect the department has shown in continuing to honor Saugus firefighters’ legacies.
“I worked with a lot of those guys,” O’Malley said. “It just brings back memories.”
