By Shereen Siewert
A retired Everest Metro Police Captain lost his nearly two-year battle with kidney cancer early Monday, according to his family.
Jim Vercimak spent decades serving the community as an Everest Metro Police officer, retiring as a captain in late 2011. On April 2, 2018, Vercimak was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer. The cancer had already metastasized to his lungs, liver, spleen, pancreas and bones; later, it spread to his spine and his brain.
He was given less than six months to live, but fought the disease until the very end. His wife, Teresa Volpe, quit her job to care for Jim full-time.
Community members rallied around the Weston man and his family in November when his stepdaughter, Emily Casteel, went public with the the financial implications of Jim’s disease, putting a public face on what had previously been a very private family matter.
Casteel’s GoFundMe campaign for her family raised more than $11,000, money that helped defray the cost of treatment, insurance copayments, and living expenses.
“Jim has spent his entire life serving the Weston community as captain of the Everest Metro Police Department, and now its time for his community to rally around him,” Casteel wrote, in her GoFundMe posting.
Along with his family, Vercimak leaves behind countless friends and colleagues.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
