On Sunday, he was remembered fondly.
"He was one of the kindest, most gentle people you could ever encounter," said Chris Lammerts, president of the Castleton Volunteer Ambulance Service, an organization to which Stalker belonged for the past 15 years. "Jerry was always the first one to ask you, 'What do you need?' "
The ambulance went off the road and rolled into a ditch at 7:15 p.m. None of the passengers was hurt, but Stalker's condition was grave. Colt Class, an emergency medical technician in the ambulance, checked Stalker's vital signs and found no breath or pulse.
Officer John Riekert of the Schodack police pulled Stalker from the ambulance and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A second crew from the Castleton Volunteer Ambulance took Stalker to Albany Med, and a crew from Nassau Ambulance took the overdose patient there. Stalker was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the accident.
Lammerts remembered Stalker, a truck driver for Hamilton Printing Co. and father of two, as the type of guy who "would give you the shirt off his back." Literally.
Lammerts recalled Stalker's concern for two small children who were forced out of their home by a Christmas fire several years ago while wearing only pajamas.
"One little girl got his coat, and one got his heavy, long-sleeved flannel shirt," he said.
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