Staff
Robert M. Folsom is the fourth generation of the Folsom Family in Funeral Service. Bob is a graduate of Westwood High School, class of 1973, and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Southeastern Massachusetts University in 1977. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, and second in his class, from the New England Institute of Anatomy, Sanitary Science and Embalming in 1978.
Bob is a member and past president of the Westwood Rotary Club. He was awarded the Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellowship. He has been a member of the Westwood Interfaith Council since its inception and was its charter President. He is a member of the Massachusetts Funeral Director Association and a former member of its Board of Directors. Bob is a member of the First Baptist Church of Westwood and currently serves the congregation as its Moderator. He is a member of the Society in Dedham for the Apprehension of Horse Thieves, and he has bowled for over 25 years with the St. Denis Bowling League. In addition he is a member of the Electronic Funeral Service Association, and the Camping Funeral Directors Association, and a life member of the Good Sam Club. His hobbies include motorhoming, stamp collecting, photography and genealogy. He was awarded the first Roy London Humanitarian Award by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Westwood. The son of Richard J. of Westwood, and the late Jane (Anderson), he lives in Islington with his wife of 30 years Donna L. (Jacobs), and two of his three children Sarah Jane, age 27, and Julia Grace, age 20. His son, Brian Robert Folsom, age 24, lives in Dedham.
Lauralee Davis is a lifelong resident of Dedham and a 1985 graduate of Dedham High School. While in High School she was the President of the Dedham First Aid and Rescue Explorer Post 528 which was sponsored by the American Legion Post 18 of Dedham. At age 15 she became the youngest CPR Instructor in the country, teaching at the Faulkner Hospital in Boston for many years. She was the recipient of the Edward J. Donovan Memorial Award for Excellence (named after a Boston Firefighter killed in the line of duty) along with a scholarship to help continue her emergency medical training. After high school she worked for Brewtser Ambulance Service and was stationed at the Dedham Police Department. She later transferred to Norfolk Bristol Ambulance Service when they took over ambulance service for the town of Dedham and worked for them for three years. Lauralee has continued her involvement with the Explorers (the Co-ed division of the Boy Scouts) both in the Dedham Chapter and throughout the Greater Boston area, and has been awarded many local Explorer Chapter honors.
As a teenager she joined the American Legion Auxiliary Juniors program in Dover, and later transferred to the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 18 in Dedham where she is a Past President and presently the Senior Vice President. In addition, she is a Past Sergeant-At-Arms for the Norfolk County Council of the Auxiliary and a Past Assistant Sergeant-At-Arms for the Department of Massachusetts/American Legion Auxiliary. The Children & Youth and Americanism Programs administered by Lauralee won her both State and County awards.
Lauralee is a 1996 Honors graduate of the New England Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences from where she earned her Associates Degree. She is also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Mount Ida College.
Ms. Davis is a licensed funeral director and embalmer and has worked for Folsom Funeral Service since June of 1996. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the FINE Institute of Westwood, and has taught for Citizen Schools in Boston, an after school program for inner city youth.
Lauralee is a member of St. Mary’s Church in Dedham where she serves the Parish as a Eucharistic Minister and CCD teacher. She is a Past Lifeguard for the St. Mary’s Lifeteen Program. Lauralee is the daughter of Marie (Decoste) and the late Robert Davis. She resides in Dedham with her German Shepherds, Duncan and Bella.
Donna Arthur, a resident of Norwood, attended Fine Mortuary College in Norwood and graduated Cum Laude in 2002, earning an Associates Degree in Applied Arts and Sciences. She was awarded the Reginald Cagle Award for courage, diligence and caring. She became a licensed funeral director in 2003.
Donna is a member of the Circle of Hope, a service club in Norwood, and of the Roslindale/West Roxbury Kiwanis Club. Her interests are attending the theatre, going to concerts, reading and spending as much time as possible with her family. She is the proud grandmother of Molly and Brendan. She has worked with Folsom Funeral Service since 2002.
Deniece Degirmenci, a resident of Waltham, has worked for Folsom Funeral Service since 2002. She grew up in Wallingford, CT, the daughter of Brenda and Richard Carocari. A 1999 Graduate of Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford, she attended the New England Institute at Mount Ida College, where she graduated with an Associate Degree in Mortuary Science and a Bachelors Degree in Funeral Home Management. She was a member of Phi Sigma Eta, a funeral service fraternity, and graduated with honors.
Deniece passed her National and State Board exams in the Fall of 2005, and is a licensed funeral director. In her sparetime Deniece enjoys traveling back to Connecticut to visit her family, working out, charity road races, and spending time with Rory and Rambo, her two dogs. Deniece also completed the 2008 Boston Marathon in memory of her German Shepherd Chloe, and all proceeds were donated to the German Shepherd Rescue of New England. She is the wife of Arda Degirmenci.
Brian Folsom has been working for the family funeral home for eight years. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the Eisenberg School. He is an apprentice at the funeral home and attends FINE Institute, an embalming school located in Norwood, MA where he is actively learning all the aspects of funeral service.