At a memorial service held Friday in Salem, the family of Rob DeCesare, who was killed in a shooting at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua last weekend, said he died protecting his family, putting himself between the gunman and his wife and daughter.
“My dad saved my life,” said his daughter Makayla DeCesare. “But so much more than that: He set me up for a life full of integrity and community, which is a life worth living.”
Steven DeCesare said his dad’s final moments illustrated who his father was at his core.
“If he was given a list of any way [his death] could have happened, saving his family would have been his top pick by a landslide,” he said.
Family, friends and pickleball teammates shared stories of a man they said possessed a deep love for his family, a dreamer’s heart, a taste for the finer things in life, a limitless sense of adventure, an intense competitive streak and an unforgettable laugh. They said his kindness and generosity left a lasting impression on everyone he met.
“Treat everyone with courtesy,” Steven DeCesare said his father taught him. “With the exception of slow drivers in the left lane.”
Makayla DeCesare’s wedding is in a few weeks.
“Rest assured, he will be with us on that day and we will celebrate, dammit,” his wife Charlene DeCesare said.
DeCesare was 59 years old.
The alleged gunman, Hunter Nadeau, has been charged with second-degree murder.
