GREENFIELD — Jacob Garmalo, of Leyden, a correctional officer with the Franklin County sheriff’s office, died Thursday morning of injuries sustained when his motorcycle collided with a car on Elm Street, just north of the Franklin County House of Correction.
His parents, Kathleen and Nicholas Garmalo, described him as a hard-working young man who gained the respect of everyone who knew him — from his friends and family to the jail’s staff, and even the inmates.
“He’d treat them with respect, and he’d have a good outcome,” Kathleen Garmalo said. “Everybody thought highly of him.”
At 19, Garmalo was one of the youngest members of his class in the police training program. “They don’t usually take them that young,” she said. He would have turned 22 on July 4.
“We are heartbroken here,” Sheriff Christopher Donelan said Thursday afternoon. “He was a fine young man and an excellent officer. He will be sorely missed.”
Garmalo, who was working a night shift, had left work shortly before the accident, around 7:30 a.m.
Thursday night he was to have graduated from a six-month reserve police training program that would have enabled him to become a deputy sheriff, Donelan said.
A stretch of Elm Street was closed until 11 a.m., so that investigators could determine the cause of the crash. The motorcycle lost its front wheel in the impact.
Police referred questions to the Northwestern district attorney’s office, which had not released further information about the accident Thursday night.
State Police detectives assigned to the Northwestern district attorney’s office, the State Police reconstruction team and photography unit, and Greenfield police and fire departments were among those who responded to the collision, which remains under investigation.
Garmalo said her son loved the outdoors. He was an avid snow boarder, skier, camper and hunter. He had just recently adopted a beagle to bring hunting with him.
She reminisced about his love of camping, lakes and the ocean, remembering family trips taken year after year to Maine’s Acadia National Park and to the beach.
He was also a carpenter and blacksmith, trades he learned as a student at Pioneer Valley Regional High School in Northfield, and had participated in Civil War re-enacting.
Garmalo was always willing to lend a helping hand, she said, using his skill in working on small motors to fix lawnmowers from time to time.
Nicholas Garmalo said his son had recently moved back into the family home to save money toward buying a house.
Garmalo was close to his younger brother and sister, Kathleen Garmalo said.
“He was a caring, decent, hard-working citizen and son,” Kathleen Garmalo said. “He believed in working hard and earning your keep. The world lost a very nice person.”