William Jim Lightbody
- 9/18/2004

Paramus, NJ Mayor James J. Tedesco and Rescue Chief John P. Pecoraro have reported the death of William Jim Lightbody, 46, a member of the Paramus Rescue Squad.

Lightbody, a seven-year veteran of the department, succumbed to a heart attack while returning from a motor vehicle entrapment call on the Garden State Parkway. He was treated at the scene by fellow rescue members, Paramus Police, members of the Paramus Fire Department, and paramedics from Valley Hospital and the Paramus Ambulance Corp. He was taken by ambulance to Valley Hospital where he passed away a short time later.

Jim Lightbody was appointed to the Paramus Rescue Squad on July 26, 1997 and was assigned to Rescue 9. He was a past Secretary and Treasurer of the Paramus Rescue Association. He was also a life-member of the HoHoKus Volunteer Ambulance Corp. and a past member of the Greenwood Lake, New York Fire Department.

Lightbody, a resident of the Borough of Paramus, is survived by his wife Paula, son Michael, 19 who is also a member of the Paramus Rescue Squad, his two daughters, Suzanne, 7, Sarah, 4, and his sister Janet.

He is the first Paramus Rescue Squad member to die in the line of duty in the department’s 52-year history.

Memorial Fund Contact and Address: In memory of Rescue Member William Jim Lightbody, C/o Paramus Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc., P.O. Box 781, Paramus, New Jersey 07653-0781

William "Jim" Lightbody was a member of the Paramus Rescue Squad, and Died in the Line of Duty on September 18th, 2004.

The Paramus Rescue Squad was dispatched to a fire alarm at Mt. Saint Andrew's Home on Midland Avenue and was re-directed to an extrication call on the Garden State Parkway. A car had gone off the roadway into the woods, and the driver had to be extricated from the car and moved up the incline to an ambulance.

Rescueman Jim Lightbody assisted in the removal of the patient from the lower slope, and during the return to our Rescue garage suffered a fatal heart attack in the Passenger's seat of Rescue 9

CPR and Defibulation was started immediately, but he succumbed to this heart attach in Valley Hospital.

He is the first member of the Paramus Rescue Squad to die in the Line of Duty.

John P. Pecoraro
Chief
Paramus Rescue Squad