JOSEPH R. BARRESI

BARRESI, Joseph R. Of Cohasset, July 23, 2018, age 95. Beloved husband for 59 years of Velma (Amistadi) Barresi. Devoted father of Paul Barresi and wife Audrey of Hanover and the late Gia Barresi. He also leaves grandchildren Matthew and Joseph Barresi. Brother of Frank Barresi of Foxboro and the late Jack Barresi. Born in South Boston in 1923, he graduated from Boston Latin School at age 16. An Army Veteran of WWII, he served in Japan and the Philippines. Following his graduation from Boston University, Joe worked for the Boston Municipal Research Bureau for 22 years, serving as director from 1962 to 1975. In 1981, he was appointed the first Inspector General of Massachusetts, charged with preventing and detecting fraud and waste at all levels of state government. He served the maximum two 5-year terms as IG. He was then a Senior Fellow at the McCormack Institute at UMass Boston, retiring in 1999. He was a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, an Executive Fellow at the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College and a former chairman of the Cohasset Advisory Committee. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Anthony's Church, 10 Summer Street, Cohasset at 10:00 a.m. Friday, July 27. Burial will be private. Donations may be made to the Gia Barresi Award, c/o Maureen McCarthy, 101 Pleasant Street, Cohasset, MA 02025. For an online guestbook, please visit

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