ATHOL – Anthony A. Brighenti, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and retired state Environmental Police officer who served many years on the Athol Selectboard and School Committee, died earlier this month. He was 80.

Calling hours were held at the Fiske-Murphy & Mack Funeral Home in Orange on Wednesday before a funeral service so family, friends and colleagues could pay their respects to the longtime public servant.

“He was completely committed to this town and the people in it,” daughter Elizabeth Robinson said. “It was very important to him to be active.”

Brighenti’s résumé included time on the town’s Shade Tree Commission, Memorial Building Committee and Vacant and Abandoned Building Committee. He was also a longtime member of the Marine Corps League, having worn the uniform from 1966 to 1970.

“He had a very fruitful life, for sure,” Robinson said.

She mentioned that her father graduated from Athol High School in 1962 and attended barber school in Boston. He eventually worked at the L.S. Starrett Company and briefly as a social worker before finding his “dream job” as an environmental police officer, a role he held for 28 years.

“When I got the job, I died and went to heaven,” he told the Greenfield Recorder in March 2017, “because it was always something I wanted to do.”

Robinson and Laurie Parker, Brighenti’s other daughter, said it was in this capacity that their father found the remains of Molly Bish, a 16-year-old Warren girl murdered in the summer of 2000, during an extensive search in Palmer three years after the crime. Though the murder is unsolved, Robinson said her father was proud to have provided the Bish family with some measure of closure.

“He was honored to have done that for them,” she recalled. “It meant everything for her family.”

Parker said her father’s passion for his job was fueled by his love of the outdoors, especially fishing and hunting.

“The memories I have of my dad is he used to bring me fishing quite a bit in the Quabbin [Reservoir],” she said, mentioning similar trips to Lake Ontario and to visit relatives in Canada.

Brighenti also founded the North Worcester County Quabbin Anglers Association, to which his family has asked donations be made in lieu of flowers. Donations can be sent to PO Box 79 Athol, MA 01331.

Brighenti’s middle name came from his uncle Albert, who worked as a natural resource officer for the state more than 30 years. Albert Brighenti was a tremendous inspiration and mentor to his nephew, according to Anthony’s brother, Lt. Mark Brighenti, who followed him into environmental law enforcement.

“His instincts were amazing, to assist with, really, the core mission of the Environmental Police – mainly to protect our resources and, obviously, to apprehend perpetrators,” Mark Brighenti said. “And he got better over the years.”

He said a relative recently told him there has been a Brighenti working as a game warden for 72 consecutive years. He said he was positively influenced by his brother, who was 20 years his senior.

“He was like a father to me,” Mark Brighenti said.

According to his obituary, the elder Brighenti received state Officer of the Year honors. He was also the recipient of the 2001 Ted Crumb Big Cheese Award, which is bestowed on an individual, group or business in recognition of their outstanding support for the annual Athol/Orange River Rat Race, a five-mile canoe sprint on the Millers River.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.