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Obituaries
'Total Shock': 34-Year-Old Air Force Veteran Killed In Capital Region Crash Had 'Heart Of Gold' 'Total Shock': 34-Year-Old Air Force Veteran Killed In Capital Region Crash Had 'Heart Of Gold' 'Total Shock': 34-Year-Old Air Force Veteran Killed In Capital Region Crash Had 'Heart Of Gold'
'Total Shock': 34-Year-Old Air Force Veteran Killed In Capital Region Crash Had 'Heart Of Gold' Tributes are pouring in for a beloved Air Force veteran following his untimely death in the region. Albany County resident Michael Furch, age 34, of Guilderland, died following a single-vehicle crash on I-787 in Albany on Thursday, June 20. New York State Police said Furch was operating a motorcycle when he lost control and struck a concrete barrier while exiting I-787 on the flyover ramp to I-90. He was ejected from the bike and landed on the shoulder of I-787 northbound below. Furch was pronounced dead at the scene. Earlier Report: Fatal Crash: 34-Year-Old ID'd As Victim In …

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by Michael Mashburn
Obituaries
'Adventurous Spirit': Pilot Killed In NY Plane Crash Remembered For 'Palpable Zest For Life' 'Adventurous Spirit': Pilot Killed In NY Plane Crash Remembered For 'Palpable Zest For Life' 'Adventurous Spirit': Pilot Killed In NY Plane Crash Remembered For 'Palpable Zest For Life'
'Adventurous Spirit': Pilot Killed In NY Plane Crash Remembered For 'Palpable Zest For Life' Natalie Gillis saw much of the world in her 34 years, most of it from the air. The pilot from Toronto, Canada died Monday morning, June 17, when her twin engine Piper plane crashed just moments after taking off from Albany International Airport. Gillis, the aircraft’s sole occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Colonie Police. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the NTSB. Earlier Report: Pilot Killed In Small Plane Crash Near Albany Airport Her employer, KASI Aviation Services, confirmed her death in a Facebook tribute posted Thursday morning, Ju…

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by Michael Mashburn
Obituaries
NY Veteran's Lifelong 'Secret' Revealed In Heartbreaking Obituary Going Viral NY Veteran's Lifelong 'Secret' Revealed In Heartbreaking Obituary Going Viral NY Veteran's Lifelong 'Secret' Revealed In Heartbreaking Obituary Going Viral
NY Veteran's Lifelong 'Secret' Revealed In Heartbreaking Obituary Going Viral A decorated veteran and retired firefighter from upstate New York is going viral for his heartbreaking posthumous revelation. Lifelong Rensselaer County resident Col. Edward Thomas Ryan, of Rensselaer, died with a long-kept secret that rendered him “afraid of being ostracized,” he wrote in his own obituary, which was published in the Albany Times Union on Saturday, June 8. "I must tell you one more thing. I was gay all my life: thru grade school, thru high school, thru college, thru life,” Ryan wrote. “I'm sorry for not having the courage to come out as gay. I was afraid of being ostraciz…

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by Michael Mashburn
Obituaries
'Ray Of Sunshine': Heather McNamara, NY Recipient Of Groundbreaking Surgery, Dies At 22 'Ray Of Sunshine': Heather McNamara, NY Recipient Of Groundbreaking Surgery, Dies At 22 'Ray Of Sunshine': Heather McNamara, NY Recipient Of Groundbreaking Surgery, Dies At 22
'Ray Of Sunshine': Heather McNamara, NY Recipient Of Groundbreaking Surgery, Dies At 22 Heather McNamara, who stole hearts across the tristate area after undergoing groundbreaking cancer surgery as a child, has died at the age of 22. The Long Island resident from Islip Terrace died Saturday, June 1, due to multiple organ failure after spending months hospitalized in intensive care from a bacterial infection, her mother Tina announced. McNamara became a familiar face to many in 2011, when she appeared in a commercial for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. In the black and white spot, the then 7-year-old recounted how two hospitals turned her family away before Dr. Tomoaki Kato ag…

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by Michael Mashburn
Obituaries
Hudson Valley Teen Killed In Crash Remembered For His Love Of Fishing, 'Being On The Move' Hudson Valley Teen Killed In Crash Remembered For His Love Of Fishing, 'Being On The Move' Hudson Valley Teen Killed In Crash Remembered For His Love Of Fishing, 'Being On The Move'
Hudson Valley Teen Killed In Crash Remembered For His Love Of Fishing, 'Being On The Move' A 17-year-old Hudson Valley student killed in a crash that also injured three others, one critically, is being remembered for his love of life. Related: Hyde Park HS Student Dead, 1 Critical Following Crash Daniel "Dan" George Noakes, age 17, of Hyde Park, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, May 15, at Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie following a single-vehicle crash in which he was the driver. A Poughkeepsie native, Noakes was the son of Glenn A. and Nicole Liegey Noakes. His father lives in Poughkeepsie, and his mother and sister, Annie, in Hyde Park. Noakes, an 11th-grad…

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by Kathy Reakes
Obituaries
'Devastating Loss': Mom Of 4-Year-Old Killed In Capital Region Crash; Support Swells For Son 'Devastating Loss': Mom Of 4-Year-Old Killed In Capital Region Crash; Support Swells For Son 'Devastating Loss': Mom Of 4-Year-Old Killed In Capital Region Crash; Support Swells For Son
'Devastating Loss': Mom Of 4-Year-Old Killed In Capital Region Crash; Support Swells For Son Support is flooding in for a 4-year-old boy who lost his mother in a head-on crash in the region that also killed a second driver. Rensselaer County resident Tricia Daigneault, age 29, of Hoosick Falls, was one of two women who died in the Washington County wreck, which occurred in White Creek on Wednesday morning, May 15. New York State Police said Daigneault was driving on State Route 22 near Grandma Moses Road when she collided with another vehicle head-on shortly after 6 a.m. She and the other driver, Shumeka Mentor, age 39, of Albany, were pronounced dead at the scene. There were no o…

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by Michael Mashburn