GUILDERLAND — Lawrence T. Staubach, who was known to his family and friends as “Larry,” was easy to love, according to his mother, Carly Hillmann. She said he was “just a light.”

Mr. Staubach died unexpectedly on Monday, Oct. 2, in a  single-car accident in Altamont on Bozenkill Road, where he lived. He was 22.

Born on Aug. 21, 1995, he was a 2013 graduate of Guilderland Central High School. Immediately after graduation, he joined the United States Army. He was stationed in South Korea, where he was chosen for the Honor Guard, his mother said.

“He loved the military,” Ms. Hillmann said. “He loved serving his country. It was all he ever wanted to do.”

By joining the military, he was following in his father’s footsteps. Theirs was a military family, and lived in various parts of the country including Missouri and Texas while Mr. Staubach was growing up.

They lived in Hawaii during Mr. Staubach’s early years, when he was aged 2 through 5, his mother said, where there were “lots of little kids” on their cul-de-sac, his mother said.  “He had 22 best friends,” she said. “He loved them all and remembers them all.”

He spent his first two years of high school in Berne-Knox-Westerlo and then transferred in his junior year to Guilderland, Ms. Hillman said. Everywhere he went, she said, he made many friends.

Since returning to the Capital District in 2015, he worked first at Grandma’s Pies & Restaurant and then at Starbuck’s on Wolf Road near the airport as a barista, which his mother said he also loved.

“They would always stick him in the drive-through,” his mother said, explaining that there was just one lane in the drive-through at that coffee shop, and people could not change their minds and back out if service happened to be slow.

If customers were ever annoyed or angry, Mr. Staubach would talk with them, and, by the time they got up to the window to pick up their order, “Nobody was angry any more,” Ms. Hillmann said.

Mr. Staubach enjoyed kayaking. He kayaked for the Hilltop Hoppers and took part in the Empire State Games. He was the third or fourth generation in his family to kayak, Ms. Hillmann said.

“Larry left a lasting impression on everyone he met with his infectious smile and kindness,” his family wrote in a tribute. “He led his life always placing others before himself, bringing light into everyone’s world with his limitless energy and enthusiasm. He was a great big brother.”

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He is survived by his mother, Carly Hillmann; his father, Chad Staubach, and Jennifer Giehl; his younger brother, Lucas, and younger sister, Samantha; his maternal grandparents, David and Mary Hillmann; his paternal grandparents, Joseph Staubach and Eileen and Deborah Larsen and Brian; and several aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

Calling hours will be held Thursday, Oct. 5, at Fredendall Funeral Home at 199 Main Street in Altamont from 1 to 6 p.m.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Oct. 6, at 11 a.m. at St. Lucy/St. Bernadette Church at 122 Grand Street in Altamont.

All are welcome to attend a Celebration of Life following the Mass, across the street at the Parish Community Center.

Memorial contributions may be made to the WoundedWarriorProject.org.

— Elizabeth Floyd Mair