Who hasn't stopped along a roadside and snapped a picture of a beautiful place?
Stopping to take in the scenery is what Frederick Stoss and the love of his life Dorothy did for more than 45 years.
You'd find pictures and videos of waterways and vistas from the Adirondacks, where Stoss and his wife would travel often. Stoss, a noted local environmentalist, scientist and librarian, knows how to see the beauty in the place we often just drive by.
And so it was Saturday, while traveling on State Route 30 outside Speculator, near Lake Pleasant, that Stoss did as he'd done so often: pull the car to the side of the road near a parking area, and capture the majesty of the state in which he lives. His wife Dorothy— known by friends as Dottie— waited in the car as Stoss headed to the trunk for their camera.
Investigators with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said just as Stoss reached the back of his car, it started rolling. He jumped back into the car in an attempt to stop it. Their Subaru— a car that friends say Dottie had just purchased earlier this year— struck a log.
Frederick was ejected.
The car kept rolling down an embankment, into what locals call "Stump City," a man-made pond/lake that swallowed the Stoss's car in 8-10 foot waters.
Dottie Stoss, 69, a retired psychiatric nurse at University of Rochester Medical Center, had just learned the day before the trip that she would be a grandmother for the first time, according to her long-time neighbor and friend Chester Martin. The news had made the life-long people helper as happy as ever. Stoss was a nursed in a burn unit in Rochester. She'd also given years to her neighborhood: Rochester's 19th Ward, and to her place of worship: Trinity Emmanuel Lutheran Church.
When the Stoss car slammed into the water, it trapped Dottie. Her husband ran to the road and yelled for help. A woman and three men at a nearby hunters camp ran to assist. They broke the car window, and after 15 minutes, pulled Dottie to the bank.
CPR that started along "Stump City" continued for nearly an hour on the ride through Hamilton County to the nearest hospital. Not long after she arrived at the hospital, Dottie was pronounced deceased.
Hamilton County Sheriff Karl Abrams said an autopsy Monday was expected to confirm the cause of death was drowning. He said the police investigation into the tragic accident will close with the submission of the autopsy.
Stoss friends and neighbors on Penhurst Street continue to mourn the loss of a lady that made people's lives better.