In Marshfield, scores of people lined the streets for a final farewell to Danny Sheehan, an eight-year-old who battled aggressive brain cancer for four years.
WATD’s Lenny Rowe files this report:
As the sun set in town, Route 139 was lined with balloons, signs, and people in bright clothing making noise for Sheehan. He had a profound impact on the community, and made people smile everywhere he went.
“It’s just really nice that pretty much the whole street has balloons, signs saying ‘We love you Danny,’ which is true,” said 11-year-old Tommy Vacirca. “It’s not going to be the same in the town because he’s not here.”
Hundreds of Sheehan’s third-grade classmates stood in front of the Daniel Webster School to show support. They held signs with 4 The Love of Danny written on them.
“He was a jokester, and he was one of my best friends,” said eight-year-old Luke Arruda. “He is really special.”
From Malden to Connecticut, police, fire, and hundreds of other vehicles took part in the farewell escort through town. The procession briefly drove around the Daniel Webster School campus as bagpipes played.
“I think his spirit is remarkable, he was such a joy, and I think he brought that joy to every single person he met,” said Maura Spignesi, a 12-year Marshfield resident. “His strength and his resilience, he’s a true reflection of his parents who are also full of love and joy for their child, but also the community that is Marshfield. I think that’s what he represented for all of us, and that’s why these kids love him. That’s why we come together at any moment in his life because he really represented what it was to really, truly live life.”
Members of the Marshfield High School boys’ hockey team handed out water during the wake, and lined Route 139 for the procession. Aidan Healey, a 2021 captain, said Danny was a key part of their team.
“He could have been down all the time. He was going through such hard times. He was just always smiling,” said Healey. “It really made us feel better about our lives too, because his life was so much harder than ours.
Healey and 2020 captain Jonathan Jordan said the team jumped in to support the family.
“It makes everything we do seem a lot easier in our lives, knowing that he’s so young doing something so tough,” said Jordan. “Every day when we think we’re doing something tough, he’s doing something a lot harder.”
Sheehan was named a member of the Marshfield Police Department in 2019.
“No matter where you met him, or what time you spent with him, you knew you were going to be laughing,” said Police Lieutenant Arthur Shaw.
“It was a huge morale boost. If we were having a down day, and we’d bring him over to the station – it’s over. He’d be walking around and making everybody laugh. That sense of humor would just rub off on everyone. No matter how bad your day was, you knew he’d make it better,” said Shaw. “John and I would go over to his house every once in a while, just if we were bored and needed a laugh. He’d scream at us and kick us out eventually, but he’d make us laugh.”
A funeral mass will take place today at the St. Christine’s Church in Marshfield at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at the Couch Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, family members are asking that donations be made in Danny’s name to Cops for Kids with Cancer.
