Fall River native, Westport resident, dies penniless after being scammed; his family doesn’t want the same to happen to you

The family of a local man who recently passed away is looking to warn others while also recouping his funeral expenses after scams left him broke.

Fall River native and longtime Westport resident Ralph Urban was a cherished father, grandfather, great-grandfather, cancer survivor, and a retired Army National Guardsman who honorably served his country for over 11 and a half years.

Urban built his home in Westport in 1972 with his then-wife and other family members, living there until the end of 2024.

After completing high school, he initially embarked on a career as a land surveyor, achieving great success and earning respect for over 40 years. During this period, he also held a full-time position with the Board of Health in Westport from 1995 to 2006. Following that, he served as the Senior Public Health Agent for the Town of Acushnet from 2006 until 2013.

Years later is when trouble began.

Ralph’s daughter Dawn states that tragically, due to a significant decline in his vascular dementia from 2023 to 2024, several local residents took advantage of him, stealing thousands of dollars.

She says one of those cases involved Bernadette Medeiros who we reported on in 2024 for allegedly writing out four checks to herself. Her charges were dismissed in October of 2025 after they were continued without a finding.

A more severe case of alleged theft involves Sean Kelley of Pembroke who we featured in September of 2025. Kelley is accused of pilfering more than $330,000 from mail sent by senior citizens who fell victim to scams. Dawn says that her father is one of the victims, deceiving him out of nearly $30,000 by claiming he had won the lottery, which drained his bank account, including a life insurance policy that would have covered his funeral expenses. Kelley’s case is still pending.

If you are interested in donating to Urban’s cause through the family’s GoFundMe fundraiser, click here.

If you want to help Dawn and her family in their crusade to make sure that what happened to her father doesn’t happen to someone else, share this story.