Long-time Town of Montgomery employee Barney VanDyke left his mark on Montgomery far beyond town hall walls.

“He was like the untitled mayor,” best friend Michelle Burbank said. “Everybody knew Barney.”

Barney passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 27. He was 71.

Loved ones described Barney as a caring, kind man. He was always there to help a neighbor, no matter what it may have been.

“He had a big heart. He was the type of person where if you were running into hard times, he was there to help you get out of it,” daughter Jacque McKeon said. “He was the one that would offer up a room to stay, offer up a vehicle to drive, no questions asked. He would never expect a dime from anybody.”

He could fix anything, from tractors to farm equipment to cars. Some of it was paid, but he did many jobs without asking for a dime.

He came to the Iron Café in the Village of Montgomery every morning to have his coffee, sit in his spot and chat with passerby for hours. He could make a friend out of anyone, and friends became family.

“Everybody was family to him,” Burbank said.

Burbank was Barney’s “adopted family.” They met while working in town hall and became friends over weekly lunches. Barney met Burbank’s kids at the bus from school every day and mowed the family’s lawn. Burbank’s children saw Barney as their grandfather.

Barney was a straightforward, simple man who followed his own rules in life.

“He was a very original, unique soul,” son Joe VanDyke said.

Barney loved farming, the outdoors and tractors. He loved feeling the sun on his skin.

He thought he was a whisperer to all animals, except woodchucks. He had a vendetta against woodchucks.

Barney was a human atlas with a love for getting lost and finding his way again. He spent hours driving through farmland while visiting McKeon in Wisconsin.

He was a history buff. He sang to animals or to himself with off-kilter tunes like “Back in the Saddle Again”, “On the Road Again”, or the theme song to “Scooby Doo.”

Barney started at the highway department in the late 1980s. He also worked in the water and sewer department until he retired as the water and sewer operator.

Town board member Dan Dempsey said Barney was an honest, hardworking employee and an all-around good person. He did anything that you asked of him, whether that be to mow the lawn or drive the snowplow.

“He was an individual that could fit in just about any place when the town needed him,” Dempsey said.

Barney also did a lot of odd jobs outside town hall, from milking cows to working at horse farms to cutting down trees to fueling trucks.

His children often accompanied him while he worked for the town or others. VanDyke said he spent snow days with his father in the plow truck. His father told him when to lift and lower the bucket. McKeon came along when Barney milked his neighbor’s cows while they were on vacation.

If any of Barney’s seven children asked why they were doing some job or another, he said he was doing it because he told his neighbor he would help them. It’s indicative of who Barney was: quirky, caring, a huge heart and a man that will be dearly missed.

“He had the biggest heart and a unique soul. He was one of a kind,” Burbank said. “He just can’t be replaced.”