EVERETT – Even if you never met Dr. George Cozzetto, your life may have been touched by him.
Cozzetto helped found Everett’s emergency medical system, which has responded to more than 200,000 calls for help since it began in 1982 with four paramedics.
Cozzetto, 55, who had battled multiple sclerosis for 25 years, died Saturday.
His wife, Sandy, said the cause of death is unknown, but he had been hospitalized for 16 days at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. He also had been treated several times this year at the University of Washington Medical Center.
Cozzetto is credited with helping establish Everett’s emergency medical system, and arranged to have officials of Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center discuss the need for the service with the Everett City Council.
It was that testimony that led to the council approving a voter initiative to authorize an EMS levy, Everett Fire Chief Murray Gordon said.
Before Cozzetto’s funeral Saturday afternoon, firefighters in dress uniforms will honor him by marching from the fire station at Beverly Boulevard and Madison Street to the New Life Center at 6830 Highland Drive. There, a U.S. flag will hang from the top of 100-foot-long firetruck ladders.
Public funeral services will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the church.
“What we want as a family is to hear other people’s stories about dad,” daughter Jessica Cozzetto said.
Cozzetto was such a regular at fire department banquets and ceremonies that he was considered part of the department family, said Joe Paterniti, a paramedic and firefighter.
“He might as well have had a set of bunks and a helmet,” Paterniti said.
Cozzetto was born in Spokane in 1949 and grew up in Tekoa and Endicott in Eastern Washington before moving to Seattle to attend the UW, where he completed medical school.
He later married his college sweetheart, Sandy Holmes, who was taking courses to become a registered nurse. In September, they celebrated their 33rd anniversary.
Throughout his life, Cozzetto retained some of the small-town values he learned in his youth in Eastern Washington, said Dr. John Larsen, who first met Cozzetto in 1988 when he was medical director of the former Providence Hospital’s emergency room.
“Family was very important,” Larsen said. “A good work ethic. Honesty. And he was down-to-earth.”
Cozzetto served as head of the emergency room until 1988, when he stepped down, concerned about his multiple sclerosis. In 1989, he opened Providence Occupational Medicine. Cozzetto was medical program director for Snohomish County Emergency Medical Service and medical director for employee health at Providence Everett Medical Center.
“Dr. Cozzetto was a beloved friend and colleague, and will be greatly missed,” said Gail Larson, the hospital’s chief executive.
Visitation will be 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Solie Funeral Home in Everett.
Cozzetto is survived his wife; daughters Jessica of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Kimberly of Seattle; mother Marie of Marysville; and sister Linda Loffredo of Marysville.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Everett Medic 1 foundation or to Multiple Sclerosis Society research projects.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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