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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MAy 2, 2025 Page 19 OBITUARIES Elaine S.K. Choi --Heidi Ho, Alison Tsoi, HonKee Tsoi, Victoria Kam (Eric Yee), Lawrence Tsoi, Connie Choi, Christine Choi (Tony Vec), Tammy Choi, Grace Choi (Leslie Ho), and Clarence Choi (Esther Cheung), and 8 grandnieces and grandnephews. Elaine’s proudest accomplishment and greatest joy was leading people to Christ and sharing her faith.She also enjoyed shopping, traveling, reading, and writing to friends and family. Visiting hours will be held O f Saugus, formerly of Hong Kong. Passed away peacefully at Tufts Medical Center Hospice Care in Boston, on Friday, April 25 at the age of 83. Elaine grew up in Hong Kong and attended Diocesan Girls’ School and Ying Wah Girls’ School and received her medical degree at the University of Hong Kong Medical School. Elaine spent 9 years at various hospitals in Hong Kong, Canada, and the US before beginning a 48-year career as primary care physician and researcher with Tufts Medical Center and retired in 2021 only due to the pandemic. Through decades she contributed to diff erent churches and nonprofits and provided assistance and care to all those around her. Elaine is survived by her sisters-in-law Helen Hui Choi and Helen X.Q. Choi, as well as ten nieces and nephewsBEACON | FROM PAGE 17 accounts. Supporters said that people are unlikely to specifically designate control over these assets in a will, and companies have a patchwork of diff erent policies on the subject or no policies at all. They noted that this often gives companies discretion over whether to provide access to an account, and family members can be left with no ability to retrieve important information, particularly in the event of an unexpected “At the moment, there is legal uncertainty about what happens to a person’s digital assets—their email, social media and other online accounts—when they pass away,” said sponsor Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “[The bill] would make it easy to determine who, if anyone, should have access to a deceased person’s online accounts. It would also establish procedures and safeguards to prevent inappropriate disclosure of the deceased’s private commuFriday, May 2nd from 4pm to 8pm at Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home, 465 Centre St, Newton, MA. A Christian funeral service will be held at the same location on Saturday, May 3rd at 11am, followed by a burial service at Newton Cemetery.Relatives and friends are kindly invited. In lieu of fl owers, please make donations to Boston Chinese Evangelical Church, 120, Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118 in memory of Elaine Choi. Patricia A. (McCabe) Batchelder O f Saugus. Died peacefully on Wednesday, April 23rd at the Ledgewood Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Beverly at the age of 81. She was the wife of the late Walter “Bo” P. Batchelder. Born in Boston and raised in Charlestown, Mrs. Batchelder was the nications. The legislation protects privacy while also ensuring that there is clarity about who may access the digital assets of someone who has died.” HEALTH CARE SURROGATE (S 1047) - Would create a process for handling the care of incapacitated patients who don’t have a health care proxy. The measure would allow attending physicians to appoint surrogate decision makers and identifi es several candidates for that role, including the incapacitated patient’s spouse, unless legally separated, parent, adult child or adult sibling. Under current law, Massachusetts health care providers must go through the diffi cult process of seeking a judicially appointed medical guardian before even routine decisions about care can be made. Then, after a medical guardian is appointed, some decisions, including those related to transfers to nursing facilities, require additional judicial approval. These cumbersome processes are a disservice to incapacitated Sa nr Sa a daughter of the late Bernard and Rose (Mills) McCabe. A resident of Saugus since 1971, Patricia was a former customer service rep for Macy’s and was a former waitress at the Hilltop. She was also a member of the Daughters of Isabella and of the Lynnfi eld Senior Center. Mrs. Batchelder is survived by her daughter, Holly Smith and her husband Mark of Peabody; her son, Steven Batchelder and his wife Sharon Haynes of Windham, NH; three grandchildren, Kyra, Siobhan and Declan; four nieces and one nephew. She was predeceased by her grandson Conner and two brothers, William and Bernard McCabe. Relatives and friends were invited to attend visiting hours in the Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home, Saugus on Tuesday April 29. A funeral service was held in the funeral home on Wednesday followed by interment in Riverside Cemetery in Saugus. patients, whose care can be delayed by weeks. A surrogate would not be empowered to make decisions about transferring the patient to an inpatient mental health facility nor be able to make any “extraordinary” decisions about life support, sterilization and abortion. Those decisions would continue to be determined by a court. “Massachusetts is one of only four states without a statute allowing for the appointment of a health care surrogate when an incapacitated patient does not have a designated proxy,” said sponsor Sen. Cindy Cream. “[The bill] would create a more practical process for making medical decisions in such cases, while preserving important safeguards. Certain decisions would still require additional judicial approval, ensuring continued oversight. The bill strikes a careful balance by allowing timely care decisions to be made BEACON | SEE PAGE 20 y Senior Seni by Jim Miller How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft Scams Dear Savvy Senior, I am very concerned about Elon Musk and the so-called DOGE team getting access to my Social Security number and personal fi nancial information through their government offi ce raids. What can I personally do to help protect myself from this identity theft mess? Worried Senior Dear Worried, It’s a great question! I’ve been hearing from many older readers around the country that are deeply troubled by the news that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been granted access to millions of Americans’ Social Security records that include highly sensitive personal information. The major concern among data privacy experts is what could happen if your Social Security number, bank account information or tax records somehow gets leaked or breeched in all the data shuffl ing. If your information gets in the wrong hands it could lead to identity theft, which means scammers could use your personal information to open credit card accounts, bank accounts, telephone service accounts, and make major purchases – all in your name. If you’re concerned about the privacy of your personal information, the best way to protect yourself is to put a “fraud alert,” or better yet a “credit freeze” on your credit fi le. A fraud alert is a notifi cation placed on your credit report that signals to potential creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before extending credit in your name. While a credit freeze completely restricts access to your credit report, essentially preventing anyone from opening new accounts in your name without your explicit authorization. A credit freeze provides much stronger protection than a fraud alert, but there is a drawback. When you freeze your credit, you won’t be able to open new credit cards or get a new loan while the freeze in place. It does not, however, prevent you from using the credit cards you already have open. If you do need to get a new credit card or some type of loan, you can always lift the freeze on your account until you get the card or loan approved, and then refreeze it. You’ll also be happy to know that a credit freeze is completely free to put in place and lift, as are fraud alerts. And neither action will aff ect your credit score. Fraud Alert Set-Up To set up a fraud alert, you’ll need to contact one of the three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – either by phone, online or by mail. You only need to contact one of these agencies, and they will notify the other two. Here’s the phone and website contact information for each of the three bureaus. • Equifax: 800-685-1111 or Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services • Experian: 888-397-3742 or Experian.com/help • TransUnion: 888-909-8872 or TransUnion.com/credit-help If you haven’t been a victim of identity theft, you’ll need to set up an “initial fraud alert,” which lasts for one year, although you can renew it for additional oneyear periods. Credit Freeze Set-Up To set up a credit freeze you’ll need to contact each of the three previously listed credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A credit freeze lasts until you unfreeze it. But remember, before you apply for new credit card or loan, you’ll need to temporarily lift the security freeze by following the procedures from each of the credit reporting bureaus where you placed the freeze. If, however, you don’t want to set up a fraud alert or credit freeze, you can still keep an eye on your credit fi le by reviewing your credit report regularly. You can get a free credit report each week from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. nior ior

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