NEW SCOTLAND — John D. Wright, a firefighter and farmer committed to community and family, died on Friday, May 23, 2o17. He was 68.

Mr. Wright was born in on July 30, 1948, in Albany to John A. and Florence T. (née Pike) Wright. He grew up in Albany and attended a Catholic school. After he left school, he worked as a truck driver.

At the Altamont Fair, he met his future wife, Barbara Dziobecki. Upon meeting him, she said, he struck her as a cheerful and fun person. They were married in October 1983.

In New Scotland, Mrs. Wright’s parents had retired from their dairy farm. The cows were gone, but it was there that the newlyweds decided they would live and farm. Mr. Wright started building their new home on the property.

In the meantime, the couple lived in New Salem, where Mr. Wright joined the New Salem Volunteer Fire Department. He served for 10 years, and was a lifetime member.

“He was the kind of person that always wanted to help others,” Mrs. Wright said.

Once their home in New Scotland was built, and they moved there, Mr. Wright joined the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company, volunteering for almost 30 years. He most recently was a captain with the fire police. He was Fireman of the Year at both departments.

Mrs. Wright recalls one time her husband was away for two days fighting a fire at Indian Hill in Feura Bush.

“He stayed right till the end,” she said.

Mr. Wright served in the fire company until his death, she said. She noted he helped others outside of firefighting, offering his assistance to those who needed it.

“Someone you could depend on,” she explained. He was well known for his catchphrase: “I got this.”

The couple raised goats on their farm in New Scotland, which Mrs. Wright said kept them both busy, mowing and baling hay and caring for their animals. They eventually stopped farming for profit, but continued as a hobby. They had goats, chickens, ducks, and one cow. Mrs. Wright also kept a garden.

“He always made sure my garden was full,” Mrs. Wright said of her husband. He would rototill the soil with his tractor, she said.

Mr. Wright enjoyed his farm machinery, his favorite being his John Deere tractor.

“He was an excellent machine operator,” Mrs. Wright said. “He did some pretty outstanding things with the stuff he had.”

He also enjoyed fast cars. When he was young, Mrs. Wright said, he had an orange 1968 Pontiac GTO. He kept it for 10 years, and he and his wife would ride all over town, driving fast and spinning his tires.

Mrs. Wright said her husband always had time for their children. He taught them how to operate the same machinery he enjoyed using. He also would spend ample amounts of time with his grandchildren.

“He always found something fun for them to do,” Mrs. Wright said. She recalled how he once tied their sleds to the back of his rugged-terrain vehicle vehicle.

He also kept pet dogs. His last one was called Buster.

“That was his son,” his wife joked.

Mr. Wright loved his community and family, and was well known for a contagious smile and cheerful personality. His family quipped that he could be known as “the man, the myth, the legend.”

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Mr. Wright was survived by his wife, Barbara (née Dziobecki) Wright; his children, Florence Wright and her husband, Scott Pauley; Danielle Sagendorph and her husband, Corey Sagendorph; Tina Marsh; Taniyaa Wright; John Wright Jr.; and Amaziah Wright; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his sisters, Julia Osterhout and her husband, William White, and Theresa Barker and her husband, Glen Barker Sr.; several nieces and nephews, and several great-nieces and great-nephews. His sister, Linda A. Wright, died before him.

Memorial services were held on Monday, May 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Meyers Funeral Home in Delmar. Memorial contributions may be made to the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company, P.O. Box E, Clarksville, NY 12041.

— H. Rose Schneider