WILTON – A Wilton man serving six years in a state prison for robbing elderly sisters of their life savings in 2002, died last Tuesday from cancer.

Patrick E. McCall, 20, will be buried Friday in his junior firefighter uniform that he wore with the Casco Fire Department, his father William McCall III said.

Patrick McCall, who his father said suffered from mental illness his whole life, earned the Junior Firefighter of the Year Award from the Casco Department while he was at a residential treatment program at Spurwink School.

McCall was 18 when he was diagnosed with cancer while awaiting trial in the Franklin County jail after he and a co-defendant broke into a Wilton home on March 10, 2002. The two wore masks and duct-taped two elderly sisters’ wrists before stealing their life savings of about $20,000 and going on a shopping spree.

McCall was sentenced to serve six years of a 15-year sentence Oct. 30, 2002, at a state prison in Windham, followed by six years of probation, and he was ordered to pay up to $7,000 in restitution upon his release from prison.

During his sentencing hearing, McCall took full responsibility and apologized to the victims for what he did.

As their son’s health deteriorated, McCall’s parents tried to get their son out of state prison so he could die at home, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts.

McCall was recently transferred to Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for treatment but died at 10:45 p.m. Aug. 24, his father said.

His son was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he said. Physicians had called the family and told them their son only had a week to two weeks to live, he said.

Patrick’s mother, Diana, was with her son when he died. Other family members were there, William McCall said, but were not in the room at the time.

Patrick was holding his mother’s hand, and Patrick knew she was there because he squeezed her hand, McCall said.

The family is doing OK, McCall said. “We’re just going along; we do day to day,” he said.

McCall said his son is better off now that he is not suffering anymore.

Calling hours for his son are 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Wiles Funeral Home in Wilton.

A Mass will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at St. Rose of Lima Church in Jay. He’ll be buried at a cemetery off Route 2 in Wilton.

The family is asking that instead of flowers, donations be made to the Patrick McCall Fund either through an account at Bangor Savings Bank in Farmington in his parents’ names, sent to Wiles Funeral Home or to the McCall’s at P.O. Box 773, Wilton, ME 04294.

McCall said the family plans to replace money that Dana Farber Institute gave to them to help with gas, lodging and food when they visited their son.