CLARKSVILLE — Clyde C. Furman, a man who loved to help others, died on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. He was 85.

“He was a very caring person,” said his daughter, Brenda Welter. “He really liked to help people out.”

Mr. Furman was born on Aug. 7, 1931 in Westerlo to the late Charles and Hazel Weidman Furman. After his father died when Mr. Furman was only 2 years old, his grandparents raised him on their farm on West Mountain.

Growing up on a farm, the young Mr. Furman had to do chores such as milking cows, and often was in trouble for sneaking away to the nearby creek instead. He also had a number of pets: a pig named a Pinky, a deer named Bambi, and a dog.

“He would go to school, and they would follow him,” said his daughter, of his loyal animals. “He would get hollered at.”

Mr. Furman went to class in a tiny schoolhouse in Rensselaerville until the eighth grade, after which he continued to work on the farm. It was at school that he met his future wife, Janet Tanner. After marrying, the two lived in New Salem, but eventually settled in Clarksville where they raised their four children. They were together for 59 years until her death in 2011.

Mrs. Welter said her father taught his children respect, which meant he could be strict at times, but she said he mellowed with age, being a hands-on, caring grandfather.

“My niece and my grand-niece nicknamed him Poppy,” she said.

He became well known in Clarksville, said Mrs. Welter, as a staple in the area and someone willing to help others.

“Everybody knows Clyde,” she said.

It was here that Mr. Furman built his family’s home. Skilled as a contractor and a maintenance man, he did work on all his children’s homes and even at the age of 75 built his daughter’s home. He also built a playhouse for his children when they were young, and a shelter to shield his grandchildren from the rain and snow when they waited for the school bus.

“He was a good father,” said Mrs. Welter. “He helped us out.”

Mr. Furman worked at Klersy Building Corporation in Delmar, first as a builder, then operating excavators, and then doing maintenance work at apartments, which he enjoyed because he was able to visit and talk with the elderly tenants.

“He loved people — he loved being around people, he loved talking to people,” she said.

He also plowed the parking lots of the apartment complexes, getting up at 3 a.m. to do so. He retired at age 75. He also spent eight years in the National Guard.

He loved hunting and snowmobiling. In his retirement, his favorite pastime was mowing his lawn and keeping it in immaculate condition. His daughter even bought him a T-shirt that read, “I fought the lawn, and the lawn won.”

Mr. Furman loved his animal companions. In his younger days, he kept a fearsome bulldog named Sniffles that rode around in Mr. Furman’s in cherry red car with him. He also had three cats over his lifetime, Sneakers, Red, and Scarlet. He enjoyed spending time with his feline friends, said his daughter.

“They were his babies,” she said. “Kids moved out, cats moved in.”

His brother, a close friend of his when he was growing up, moved to Texas. Whenever Mr. Furman visited the state, however, he would always first stop at the restaurant Bill’s Catfish.

“He loved catfish,” said Mrs. Welter, who said the last meal he had was catfish during a trip to Cracker Barrel they took together.

Although not especially religious, Mr. Furman always wore a cross.

“He loved crosses,” said his daughter.

She was happy to have shown him a tattoo of a cross she had done in honor of him.

Her father’s love, she said, showed in unexpected ways at times. She recalled getting in a car accident after just receiving her license.

“Dad just happened to come by,” she said.

Sitting in the back of a New York State Police car, she began to cry, and the trooper asked why.

“You don’t know my father,” she said, expecting a stern response.

Instead, her father asked her if she was all right.

“You always expect that your parents are going to have a crazy fit,” said Mrs. Welter. “He was just worried about me.”

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Mr. Furman is survived by his children, Kenneth Furman and his wife, Deborah; Wendy Furman; Charles “Chuck” Furman, and his wife, Amy Ludik; and Brenda Welter, and her husband, James; his grandchildren, Danielle Antonelli, Ryan Sweeney, Emma Furman, Charles “Chaz” Furman, and Annie Furman; his great-grandchildren, Taylor and Bella Antonelli; and his brother, Maver Duell, of Texas.

His wife, Janet M. Tanner Furman, died before him, as did his parents, Charles and Hazel Weidman Furman.

Calling hours will be held on Sunday, July 30, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the A.J. Cunningham Funeral Home, 4898 State Route 81, Greenville. A funeral service will be held on Monday, July 31, at 9 a.m. at the funeral home, followed by burial in Memory Gardens in Colonie. Donations may be made to the Onesquethaw Volunteer Ambulance, Post Office Box E, Clarksville, NY 12041.

— H. Rose Schneider