William Lanzisera

William Lanzisera was the only member of his Fall River-based family to become a fisherman: "It was something he identified with and he drew strength from that challenge," his brother Michael remembered. He had been a fisherman for 25 years. His family and friends remembered his uncommon physical strength.  He died of heart failure after being submerged in cold water after an engine room fire on the quahogger Enterprise. He was survived by his father, I. Paul Lanzisera, his mother, and six brothers and sisters.

The Enterprise was dragging for sea clams about two miles off the coast of Nantucket when a fire broke out in the engine room around 6:45 p.m. on February 20, 2005. Captain John Verissimo, crew members William Lanzisera, Shannon Pacheco, and Jose Barbosa, and a Labrador retriever boarded a life raft. Mr. Lanzisera had been unable to get into his survival suit. When a Coast Guard helicopter arrived, Petty Officer Paul Taylor was lowered into the ocean and swam to the raft. He rescued Mr. Lanzisera first, placing him in a basket to be hoisted into the helicopter, where crew members began treating him for hypothermia. Mr. Taylor then rescued the other crew members and the dog. Mr. Lanzisera died en route to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where the other crew members were treated and released.