Debbie Turco

Debbie A. (Doherty) Turco of Braintree, passed away at the age of 48 peacefully on August 23, 2018 after a long and courageous battle with Cancer.

Beloved wife of Anthony J. Turco Jr., loving mother of Anthony Turco, Olivia Turco, Sophia Turco and Samuel Turco. Beloved daughter of Brigid Doherty and the late John J. Doherty of Quincy. In addition, she is survived by her brother, John J. Doherty Jr., and his wife, Kathleen (Devine) Doherty of Braintree, her sister, Cathy Doherty-Garfield of West Bridgewater and her sister, Tara Doherty of Quincy. She is also survived by 19 nieces and nephews.

Debbie attended and graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1988. Debbie was a graduate of Northeastern University, where she received an Associate of Science Degree in Paramedic Technology in June of 1996, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Sciences in June of 1999 and Master of Science Degree as a Physicians Assistant in September of 2001.

Debbie began her career in the medical profession as an EMT in Brockton, until she became a Paramedic, at which time she worked in the City of Lawrence for Lawrence General Hospital and also South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth. Upon becoming a Physician’s Assistant, Debbie began at Boston Medical Center, where she worked in Cardiac Surgery. She would later continue her work in Cardiac Surgery at the North Shore Medical Center in Salem. She would later go work at the Good Samaritan Medical Center at Brockton, where she served many years as the Chief Physician’s Assistant in the Intensive Care Unit. In addition, Debbie was a proud member of the United States National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), Disaster Medical Assistance Team Massachusetts-1 (DMAT MA-1) where she served for over 25 years. Some of her deployments with DMAT included but were not limited to: Ground Zero in New York City after the World Trade Center Attack on September 11, 2001, Bam, Iran in response to the earthquakes in 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Haiti in 2010, in addition to many other domestic and international deployments, where medical assistance was required.

In addition to her career, Debbie mostly loved spending time with her children and family. She loved spending time in Vermont, the beach, and had a passion for traveling. She was adventurous and fearless, but truly loved and cared for people. She was a devoted friend of Bill since 1990. She was always very generous and giving of her time to help others in need. She will be dearly missed by friends, family and colleagues.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the visiting hours on Sunday 4-8 PM in the Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., QUINCY. A Funeral Mass will be Monday in St. John’s Church, Quincy at 12 PM. Cremation will follow. In Lieu of flowers, donations in Debbie’s memory can be made to: Team Turco: P.O. Box 850227, Braintree, MA 02185. Donation can also be made in Debbie’s name to the Brian Bill Foundation at www.brianbillfoundation.org.