Funeral held for late Trooper Garrow
Jun. 17—PLATTSBURGH — State Police Capt. Christopher Garrow's legacy will always live on in the North Country.
"Captain Garrow is North Country; North Country is Captain Garrow," New York State Police Acting Superintendent, Steven Nigrelli, told the media before Garrow's funeral at Saint Peter's Church in Plattsburgh Friday morning.
"He's a local guy. He grew up here. He voted here. He played football here. He's a North Country guy. For him, serving and protecting his community was what he wanted to do throughout his career."
Garrow, 47, died on Monday from an illness stemming from an assignment in and around the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when, without hesitation, bravely aided in the search and recovery efforts.
Several agencies, including the New York State Police, Plattsburgh City Police Department, New York State Environmental Conservation Police, Massachusetts State Police and Vermont State Police were all in attendance on Friday.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was present for the services as well.
To accommodate the large attendance at Garrow's services, as well as his procession to the church, a section of North Catherine Street and Cornelia Street adjacent to the church were shut down for most of the morning.
They were all there to honor Garrow, a Peru native, who started his 23-year career with the State Police as a Trooper in Plattsburgh.
"There's a saying that the sheepdog protects the sheep and Captain Garrow took great pride in protecting the people of Troop B," Nigrelli said.
"He was your sheepdog."
Troop B Commander Maj. Anthony Oliver, who worked closely with Garrow, similarly spoke highly of his character and professionalism.
"Captain Garrow was an outstanding leader. He came up the ranks as a trooper. He was a diver. So he was on our underwater recovery team. Our scuba divers, he had done some work there. He even got a Superintendent's Commendation back in 2007 for doing some rescue work for flooding down in the southern tier," Oliver said.
"He had this ability to ... handle delicate situations. He can speak in just the right way and get things done and do it without offending anybody. He was outstanding. If I was a young trooper coming up now and I needed to model behavior after somebody, I would pick Capt. Garrow."
Nigrelli said Garrow's death is part of an increasing number of first responders who have died because of their response to 9/11.
"Four in the last eight months," he said.
"On that fateful day, when America was attacked and the towers fell, those men and women, Capt. Garrow, rushed there. When everybody else was fleeing New York City, he responded to help his fellow New Yorkers. That's what heroes do, that's what Capt. Garrow is."
Last year, the community honored late State Trooper Brian S. Falb, who passed away in 2017, also from an illness stemming from his time at Ground Zero, by naming the twin bridges over Interstate 87 in Plattsburgh after him.
Nigrelli said he would like to see a similar honor for Garrow in the future.
"That comes from legislation, but I think it'd be a fitting tribute," he said.
"For everybody here, who comes from the North Country, to see Capt. Garrow's name ... it would be a visual reminder of the sacrifice he made for us."
Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com
Twitter: CarlySNewton
