Even off the clock, he’d stop at every accident he saw, staying at the scene until on-duty officials arrived to make sure everyone was fine.

Constable David Ross kept his safety vest, a generator and survival equipment in his car in case he ever ran into someone who needed help.

It came as no surprise, then, that when a call came out across the radio last Wednesday that a gunman was loose in his neighbourhood, Constable Ross dropped everything, leaving the garage door open and barbecue lid up as he ran to the scene.

“That the barbecue was still open says everything about who Dave was,” his brother-in-law Adrian Van Der Ploeg said Tuesday, reading a eulogy prepared by Constable Ross’s pregnant widow, Rachael.

His response to the call showed he believed good can triumph over evil, his brother-in-law said. Constable Ross also preferred kindness to prevail over misfortune. Even off the clock, he’d stop at every accident he saw, staying at the scene until on-duty officials arrived to make sure everyone was fine. Mr. Van Der Ploeg recounted one trip the officer took home from Quebec with family in a snowstorm, pulling over to check on every car he saw in the ditch. “The ride from Quebec normally takes eight hours,” his brother-in-law said, “but in a snowstorm with Dave, the journey would take all week.”

He’d wanted to be a dog handler since his first day on the force. The officer not only landed a lucrative spot to train for the role – there are usually hundreds wait-listed – he finished training in an astonishingly short two years, Mr. Van Der Ploeg said.

The officer counted his blessings and made no secrets about the joy he found in life, always finding reasons to laugh, smile and persevere. He was a man who’d celebrate a friend’s hunting bounty as much as his own, a man who sneaked a SpongeBob SquarePants pillow into his RCMP training, a man who still, at 32, took pleasure in puddle jumping.

He’d also speak the world of his wife to anyone who’d listen. And he had a deep-seated sense of fatherhood, hoping to pass on his joy and passion to his young son, Austin.

That passion is already deeply missed by Constable Ross’s family, Mr. Van Der Ploeg said. “Few people in this world have such genuine care and concern for their fellow man.”