WESTERLO — Elton Crounse Jr. was a tough dad with a heart of gold, and a recluse who made it to every party he was invited to.

He died at home on Friday, April 7, 2023, surrounded by his family. He was 76. 

Mr. Crounse was born on April 10, 1946 to Elton and Gladys (née Ouderkirk) Crounse, and raised on the family’s farm in New Scotland. Elton Crounse Sr. died when Mr. Crounse was 7, so he was raised primarily by his mother — a butcher with a strict style of rearing, Mr. Crounse’s daughter, Christian Donovan, said. 

Along with his two living brothers and a farmhand, Mr. Crounse would help milk cows and more than likely slaughter animals, Ms. Donovan said. 

In 1964, he graduated from Voorheesville’s high school, where, at 18, he met his future wife, Linda, in the school library. He was two years older than she. 

Out of high school, Mr. Crounse joined the Air Force as a photographer, remaining stateside during the Vietnam War. When he was 20, and Linda was just graduating, the two were married and lived in Nebraska before moving to Westerlo, where he built their home. 

In 1976, Mrs. Crounse survived a stroke that “changed their entire lives.” 

“They stayed pretty secluded up there in Westerlo,” Ms. Donovan said. “They raised all four of us kids there in that home.” 

Mr. Crounse greatly enjoyed the distance between himself and others afforded by rural living. 

“He loved not being near people,” his daughter said. “My parents have never even been to Lake George.” 

Mr. Crounse made his living as the owner of Crounse Auto Repair in New Scotland until 2002, and, after that, he worked for the Albany County Highway Department, repairing and painting county trucks. 

His fascination with cars was such that he had “too many favorites,” his daughter said, and could tell you anything you could ever want to know about them. 

As a father, he inherited some of the strictness of his mother, but had a tenderness that showed itself in critical moments, such as when Ms. Donovan, as a middle school student at Berne-Knox-Westerlo, sheepishly went to him about a failed test. 

Describing the moment she stood before him, Ms. Donovan said she was in fear of the punishment she thought she might receive. 

But, when he saw the test, she said, he asked, “Did you do your best?” 

“Yes,” she replied. 

“OK,” he said. “That’s all I want. Just do your best.”

Ms. Donovan said that “do your best” became an oft-repeated quote in the final year of his life, as he battled leukemia. 

“Any time he was struggling, [we’d be] like, ‘You doing your best? You’re good, Dad, just do your best,’” she said. 

Another thing that was common over the final year of his life was his reminder to his loved ones to hug the people in their lives. 

“‘Hug everybody.’ And he often said it with tears in his eyes,” Ms. Donovan said. 

Mr. Crounse also had a unique sense of humor that persisted through his final year. When he was in the hospital, he often “got a big kick” spending time on Google Maps with his daughter, having lived his life without a cellphone or any other web-device. 

He had long been a fan of maps, and collected atlases, which he would use to study towns that shared names of his relatives, and particularly those with his own name. 

“It was funny — he could tell you where every town named Elton was in the world,” Ms. Donovan laughed. 

“He had just a quirky personality where he found humor in weird things like that,” she said. 

His devotion to family was unparalleled, and, despite his preference for solitude, he and his wife “never missed an event they were invited to,” Ms. Donovan said. 

“He’d always call whoever was having a gathering in their yard to say, ‘I’m going to bring the horseshoes,’” she recalled. “He loved playing horseshoes.” 

Mr. Crounse had a unique relationship with his grandson, Jody Sisson, who also was diagnosed with leukemia, in 2020, and who may be familiar to those who saw the phrase “Jody Sisson Strong” posted on the Berne-Knox-Westerlo public announcement board or across social media. 

The two spent a day together each weekend for the past several months playing chess at his dining room table. 

“Jody was quite special to my dad …,” Ms. Donovan said. “My father, even today, is wearing that wristband for Jody Strong on his arm.” 

One of his dying wishes, she said, was to get Jody on the phone so he could give him a private bit of life advice. 

“He was a good guy,” Ms. Donovan said. “He never took advantage of anyone. He would point out when things were wrong.” 

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Elton Crounse Jr. is survived by his wife of 56 years, Linda M. Crounse; his son Elton Crounse of Scotia, and Elton’s wife, Jamie; his daughter, April Kelly, and April’s husband, James, of Houston; his daughter Christian Donovan and Christian’s husband, Fred, of Schaghticoke; and his daughter Martha Carroll, and Martha’s husband, Thomas, of Knox. 

He is also survived by his 14 grandchildren: Elton IV, Matthew, Mason, Tatyana, Dylan, Jeremy, Joshua, Lara, Anna, Audrey, Katie, Claudia, Joel, and Tommy, as well as many nieces, nephews, and great-grandchildren.

His parents, Elton and Gladys (née Ouderkirk) Crounse, and his brothers — Ralph, Kenneth, and Raymond Crounse — died before him.

Calling hours were held on April 11 followed by a service at New Comer Cremations & Funerals in Colonie. A graveside service was held on Wednesday morning, April 12, at Memory Gardens in Colonie.

Memorial messages may be left at www.altamontenterprise.com/milestones.

— Noah Zweifel