Braintree Detective Dies of Cancer After Long Fight

Maura Cesarini, promoted to detective in the Braintree Police Department just a few years before she was diagnosed with cancer, has passed away, leaving behind a husband and two daughters.

Cesarini battled gastrointestinal cancer for more than 10 years before dying at Brigham and Woman's Hospital Saturday afternoon, Chief Russell Jenkins said in an email.

"Maura will be missed by all who knew her and we can all learn from the manner in which she lived," Jenkins said.

She began with the Braintree police on Oct. 30, 1995 and was transferred to the detective division in 1997, Jenkins said. Cesarini and her husband Michael met in the police academy and married in 1998, according to an article written for the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.

Michael, now a Brockton Police Detective, rode in several challenge bike rides to raise money for cancer research.

They had two daughters, Michaella and Bella, and Cesarini also leaves behind family both here and in Ireland, Jenkins said.

Around the time their youngest Bella was born, Cesarini was diagnosed with GIST cancer, a rare and incurable type, according to Michael's Pan-Mass profile.

"It was a devastating time for all of us," Michael writes. "Maura’s biggest worry was that the girls would be motherless at such young ages. My biggest fear was being a father without my best friend by my side."

Funeral arrangements are listed below:

Wake

Wednesday, 1600-2000 hours

Shepard Funeral Home 216 Main St., Kingston, MA 02364

*There is will be no law enforcement walk-by* Uniform of the Day:  Class A long sleeve w/tie, cover, white gloves  

Funeral

Thursday, 1000 hours

Holy Family Church 601 Tremont St., Duxbury, MA 02332

Uniform of the Day: Class A long sleeve w/tie, cover, white gloves  

Burial

Mayflower Cemetery 774 Tremont St., Duxbury, MA 02332