GUILDERLAND — Neil H. Malcolm, a truck driver who liked tinkering with cars and loved dogs, died on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. He was 86.

“He was a great friend and a great neighbor,” said Francis McCarthy who, with his wife and children, lived next door to Mr. Malcolm for a quarter of a century on Kent Place in Westmere.

He was born on Feb. 15, 1932, one of three sons of the late Rose G. and Harry R. Malcolm. His father had a restaurant in Schenectady and his mother was a homemaker. Mr. Malcolm grew up in Guilderland and attended St. Margaret Mary School in Albany.

Mr. Malcolm worked as a truck driver for the New York State Thruway, as a post office clerk, and as a driver for Dave’s Auto Shop in Voorheesville.

“He loved his dogs,” said his neighbor, Patricia McCarthy. His all-time favorite dog was King, a Samoyed. “His last dog was Shannon,” she said.

He liked cars and took pride in his Chevy Camaro, a muscle car. “He liked working on his cars, tinkering with them,” said Mrs. Mccarthy. He had sporty Corvettes in the 1960s, said Mr. McCarthy.

Mr. Malcolm was a sports fan and rooted for the Yankees in baseball season and the Giants in football season.

He never married and had no children but was fond of his neighbors’ children, and of their dogs. “He’d hand my son $50 for doing some chore,” recalled Mrs. Mccarthy. “I’d tell him, ‘Don’t do it.’ He’d bring my daughter a Fannie Farmer Easter basket. They’re very expensive. I’d say, ‘Don’t do it’ but he wold anyway.”

She went on, “He liked our dogs. He loved animals. He wouldn’t complain when they barked.”

“He moved to the Omni on Carman Road when he couldn’t afford his house anymore,” said Mrs. Mccarthy. He was there for 17 years. Then, two years ago, she said, “He had to go to the nursing home; he couldn’t take care of himself anymore.”

She visited him at The Grand in Guilderland center.

Mrs. McCarthy concluded of her neighbor and friend, “He would try to help anybody out if he could … He would give money to people even if he didn’t have enough himself.”

One of his two brothers, Harry Malcolm of East Greenbush, survives him.

There will be no memorial service. “He was not in touch with his family,” said Mrs. McCarthy.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society at 3 Oakland Ave, Albany, NY 12204 or to Guilderhaven Inc., 6655 Route 158, Altamont, NY 12009.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer