Stephen Cotesworth Lach

Stephen Cotesworth Lach passed away on Saturday, January 27, 2024 following a long period of declining health.  

He was predeceased by his parents, Michael and Dorothy Lach as well as by his brother Michael Jr, and his brother-in-law, Norman Totten.  He is survived by his brother, Thomas Lach & his wife Lori of Dedham, his twin sister Martha Totten of Newton, sister-in-law Edythe Lach of Lakeland, FL, niece Tedlin Lach of Arvada, CO and by a multitude of close, lifelong friends.  He was a graduate of North Quincy High School (71) and Norwich University (75).  Stephen was retired from Boston University Medical Center where he worked for 25 years.  Prior to BU, he worked for the Athens Olympia Restaurant in the theater district of Boston, Blanchard Liquors in Jamaica Plain, MA and Coca Cola Bottling in Needham, MA.  

Stephen’s impulses frequently got the best of him, even when he knew he would get into trouble.  While he was at Norwich, he made an unscheduled appearance on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and he nearly got thrown out of school when he took a military helicopter ride that he was not authorized to be on.  To the day he died, he considered all of this to be hilarious.  

Stephen grew up in the Forbes Hill area of Quincy and in the early seventies, he moved with his mother and sister to the Squantum section of Quincy.  He bought a Boston Whaler and loved using it for fishing, water skiing, and generally speeding around Boston Harbor, frequently in the dark of night.  He was a free spirit who could be reckless, to say the least.  At the same time, when our mother became ill with dementia, Stephen was fiercely protective of her and would not easily accept any help in caring for her.   When she was finally admitted to Hancock Park Nursing Home, he was there constantly advocating for her and keeping her company.  Loyalty to family and friends was just part of his DNA.

No one ever accused Stephen of being a natty dresser.  He had two basic outfits:  Blue jeans with a BU Facilities T-shirt, or Blue jeans with an LL Bean plaid flannel shirt.  He was always of the opinion that once he found something that worked for him, why change it?  He loved going to Las Vegas and Atlantic City with his friends and we are sure that the lights in both places are a little dimmer with his passing.  He disliked most of the new technology that came along after 1980.  He preferred his wireline house phone to a cell phone. He’d rather meet with you person to person than take part in a zoom call.  PCs reminded him of something for work and he would rather use a pencil and pad of paper than use a laptop.  He was pretty stubborn on this subject.

Stephen was most noted for the large number of people who loved him.  To say he was a good person would be an understatement.  There was a goodness about him that made people want to be around him.  He didn’t care how much money a person had, or what they did for a living.  People could tell that he really saw them and he treated everyone like they were the most important people in the world.  The result was an outpouring of love for him by everyone who dealt with him.  Although most of us measure a long life in terms of years, if it can be measured in terms of love, both given and received, he had an especially long and full life. 

The family wants to thank the compassionate care given by The Linden at Dedham, Faith and Family Hospice, and the Celtic Angels. 

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to greet the family during the visiting hours on Tuesday 4-8 PM in the Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., QUINCY. A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9:30 AM on Wednesday prior to the Funeral Mass in St. Agatha’s Church, Milton at 10:30 AM. Burial in Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston.