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Published in the News 10 Now, NY - August 8, 2008
GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. -- State Trooper Shawn Snow is honored as hundreds attend his funeral to say goodbye. Snow was killed Sunday while helping change a tire on an antique fire engine on the Prescott Bridge.
"People in the community truly loved and respected Trooper Snow," said Harry J. Corbitt, State Police Superintendent.
That love and respect for their colleague drew more than 800 law enforcement officers from the United States and Canada to say goodbye to Trooper Shawn Snow Thursday.
Snow's sister -in-law says he would think the large numbers of people there to honor him was unnecessary.
State Trooper Shawn Snow is honored as hundreds attend his funeral to say goodbye. Snow was killed Sunday while helping change a tire on an antique fire engine on the Prescott Bridge. Our Kaitlyn Lionti has more on the ceremony and the memory that will live on.
"However, if the tables were turned, he would have been one of the troopers consoling a family member, making sure the family had everything they needed and making sure the person was given every honor they deserve," said Kim Ayen-Stowell, Snow's sister-in-law.
The ceremony was filled with stories about the type of man Snow was.
"We all know Shawn was a giver. He would do anything for any one of us. How ironic that his life with us would end while completing a good deed?" said Ayen-Stowell.
"The troopers who work up here in B troop have told me tremendous tales about him. His procrastination. His just really concern for his fellow man," said Corbitt.
Snow's procrastination was the center of many stories, but it's a trait loved ones have come to appreciate.
"Prior to Sunday, I may have looked around Shawn's house and seen insulation and ceiling beams as unfinished work. Now when looking around, I see the many different projects he worked on and they were done with his whole heart and they were meticulously done with perfection," said Ayen-Stowell.
Although Trooper Snow will be greatly missed by the North Country community and beyond, his legacy will live on for years after his death.
"Tomorrow and next year and the year after, the State Police will still be here to support Ed, Inez, Penny and the rest of the family. Anything that we can do to make your burden easy, we will certainly do that," said Corbitt.
Trooper Snow was laid to rest in Herman Cemetery in St. Lawrence County.
Published in the Watertown Daily Times - August 6, 2008
HERMON - The funeral for State Trooper Shawn W. Snow, 47, Hermon, will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. James Church, Gouverneur, with the Rev. Stephen R. Rocker, pastor, and the Rev. William G. Hart, pastor of Hermon United Methodist Church, officiating. Burial with military and state police honors will be in Hermon Cemetery.
Trooper Snow died Sunday of accidental electrocution at the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, Ogdensburg, while helping to fix a flat tire on an antique firetruck.
Calling hours will be 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. today at Green Funeral Home, Gouverneur.
Mr. Snow attended the New York State Police Academy in Albany and was initially stationed with Troop A and Troop K before serving in Troop B, Gouverneur, starting December 1990. In 2004 he received training for hazardous and radioactive material transportation and safety violations to serve in the commercial vehicle enforcement unit.
He was a member of Long Pond Hunting Club, Fine, enjoyed woodworking and was an avid tool collector.
Born March 19, 1961, in Canton, son of D. Edward and Inez Baxter Snow, he graduated from Hermon-DeKalb High School in 1979, served in the Navy from 1979 to 1985 and served in the Coast Guard from 1985 to 1989. He married Penny Ayen on Feb. 23, 2002. A marriage to Rhonda Newcombe ended in divorce.
Surviving besides his wife are two sons, Eric, Potsdam, and Jamie, Hermon; two stepdaughters and a stepson-in-law, Shelby Hughes, and her companion, Richard Garlick, Woodbridge, Va., and Heather and Adam Nestor, Fort Belvoir, Va.; a stepson, Tony Hughes, Hermon; two brothers and a sister-in-law, Terrance, Hermon, and Dana and Bonnie, Ogdensburg; two sisters and their husbands, Michaelle "Mickey" and Alan Gossi, Idaho, and April and Stephen Allen, Hermon; his parents of Hermon, and three grandchildren.
Donations may be made to Hermon Cemetery, New York State Trooper Foundation, Salvation Army or 9-11 Memorial Fund.
Published in the Watertown Daily Times - August 5, 2008
'ONE OF THE NICEST': Snow always smiling, Canton captain says; funeral is Thursday
OGDENSBURG - Shawn W. Snow always had a smile on his face.
His grin was a mainstay while walking through the state police barracks, spending time with his family or educating drivers about truck safety.
"He always lit up the room and people around him because of his smile," said Capt. David E. Chauvin, commander of the state police Troop B zone headquarters in Canton.
The veteran state police trooper was recalled Monday as a good friend and one who was willing to help others.
He and Pierre Surprenant, 51, Lachenaie, Quebec, were electrocuted Sunday afternoon while fixing a flat tire on an antique fire truck near the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.
Mr. Surprenant and Trooper Snow, 47, apparently were killed instantly when the fire truck's ladder touched a live electrical wire, carrying a current through the truck, state police said.
St. Lawrence County Coroner Russell B. Lawrence III and Dr. Michael Sikirica ruled Monday night that both men died from cardiac arrhythmia due to electrocution. The deaths were accidental. The autopsies were done at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica.
"He was a valuable member of the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Detail," Maj. Richard C. Smith Jr., commander of state police Troop B in Ray Brook, said Monday about Trooper Snow. "He was considered one of the nicest people you would ever meet, including outside his state police duties."
Trooper Snow, an 18-year veteran of the force, was responsible for inspecting trucks that crossed the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge or were traveling area roadways.
Gov. David A. Paterson on Monday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on government buildings across the state Thursday, the day of the trooper's funeral.
"His death reminds us of the dangers which our brave troopers face every day while protecting and serving the public," Gov. Paterson said in a prepared statement. "Our state mourns alongside Trooper Snow's family, friends and the entire law enforcement community. We hope that his example of selfless devotion to the people of New York will serve as an inspiration to us all."
A graduate of Hermon-DeKalb Central School, DeKalb Junction, he served six years in the Navy and four years in the Coast Guard. He joined the state police in October 1989.
He enjoyed woodworking, including making cabinets, and being a do-it-yourselfer around his home.
"He was hard working and very dedicated," said Capt. Chauvin, noting the trooper had hinted about retiring when he completed 20 years of service. "He was one of the nicest people I have ever met."
The tragic incident occurred about 4:45 p.m. Sunday when Ogdensburg city police received a call about a fire truck on fire with people underneath it near the international bridge.
The fire truck, heading to Canada, was towing a trailer with an antique fire chief's car when the truck had a flat tire as it approached the bridge, police said. Trooper Snow stopped to help.
The trooper was under the truck fixing the tire while Mr. Surprenant extended the truck's ladder to redistribute the weight away from the flat right rear tire. When the ladder hit a live wire, both men were killed.
Mr. Surprenant, a former chief of the Ottawa International Airport Fire Department, bought the antique fire truck from the Mont-Joli Fire Department in Quebec. He served for several years on the executive board of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation in Ottawa.
The Montreal-area resident was returning home from displaying the vehicle at the 50th anniversary of The Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America near Syracuse.
He had been teaching firefighting at a school in the Montreal area for the past several months, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Society members collect and restore old firefighting vehicles and equipment.
Will Brooks, the foundation's president, told the Citizen that Mr. Surprenant was working to restore the large vehicle, a 1960 Pierre Thibault Ltd. ladder truck.
He was towing a 1909 Model T Ford, dressed as a chief's car, that once had been owned by the Bytown Fire Brigade.
"He was very excited about the weekend, because it was the first time he'd shown the vehicle outside Quebec," Mr. Brooks said. "We're waiting to find out just what happened."
"Pierre was very safety-conscious and we can't understand how this occurred. Perhaps it was dark and he couldn't see the wires, we just don't know."
David M. Sheen, the foundation's Ontario representative, said his friend had a passion for firefighting.
"He was a great guy," Mr. Sheen said in a phone interview from Toronto. "He loved going to all these events and showing off his truck. He was proud to display and promote the foundation. Our hearts go out to his family and to the family of the state trooper."
The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge reopened to traffic about 1:30 a.m. Monday after being closed for several hours Sunday evening, Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority Executive Director Wade A. Davis said.
Calling hours for Trooper Snow are from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Green Funeral Home, 33 Park St., Gouverneur. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. James Catholic Church, 164 E. Main St., Gouverneur.
Published in the Fox 44 News, NY - August 5, 2008
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Flags on state government building throughout New York will fly at half-staff Thursday in honor of fallen state trooper.
Governor David Paterson ordered the flags lowered for 47-year-old Trooper Shawn Snow, who died Sunday.
Snow and 51-year-old Pierre Surprenant (soop-preh'-nahn) of Quebec were electrocuted while fixing a flat on an antique fire truck when the truck's ladder touched a power line in Ogdensburg.
Snow was a 19-year veteran and was assigned to the commercial vehicle enforcement unit. where he was responsible for inspecting trucks that crossed the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.
The fire truck was heading into Canada when it got a flat approaching the bridge, and Snow stopped to help replace the flat tire.
Published in the Ottawa Citizen, Canada - August 5, 2008
Former Ottawa-area fire chief, New York state trooper killed on Canada-U.S. bridge
A former Ottawa-area fire chief and a New York state trooper were electrocuted Sunday afternoon while fixing flat tires on an antique firetruck on the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, about an hour south of Ottawa.
According to New York state police, Pierre Surprenant was driving an antique fire truck and towing a trailer containing an antique fire chief's vehicle across the border when he stopped on the bridge to repair the larger truck's right rear tires.
Mr. Surprenant asked Trooper Shawn W. Snow, 47, to assist him, and the two men raised the fire truck's ladder in order to redistribute the weight away from the back of the truck.
The ladder came in contact with a high voltage power line, which carried the current through the truck, killing the two men instantly.
The bridge was closed when the incident occurred at around 4:30 p.m. and was reopened around 1:30 a.m. yesterday morning.
New York state police said Mr. Surprenant was 51, but friends of said he was 53.
Mr. Surprenant, the former fire chief at the Ottawa International Airport, was returning to his home in Terrebonne, Que., just outside of Montreal, following a weekend gathering in Syracuse, New York, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America.
He had been teaching firefighting at the Firefighters Academy in Mirabel, Que., for the past several months.
Yesterday, friends of Mr. Surprenant were shocked by his sudden death.
"We're all still catching our breaths," said Peter Ryan, president of the Bytown Fire Brigade, a non-profit historical society of Ottawa firefighting, of which Mr. Surprenant was a member.
"He was a fun guy to be with, but he also had a serious side," Mr. Ryan said. "When push came to shove, and there was something that had to be done, Pierre did what he had to do to make it happen."
Georges Potvin was one of Mr. Surprenant's closest friends. He also travelled to Syracuse to attend the gathering.
"This was just a stupid accident to happen," Mr. Potvin said in frustration.
Mr. Surprenant was heading home to the Montreal area alone because Mr. Potvin and other friends were heading toward Gatineau.
He said Mr. Surprenant called him on his cellphone just 15 minutes before the accident to ask if he could help him with his flat tire. "He called us up and we were almost already home, so we couldn't do very much for him."
Mr. Potvin didn't receive word of Mr. Surprenant's death until about 2 a.m.
Mr. Potvin said he befriended Mr. Surprenant in 2000 when he sold him a raffle ticket that eventually won the grand prize at a Bytown Fire Brigade fundraiser. The prize was an antique fire chief's car from 1909, which piqued Mr. Surprenant's interest in firefighting history and inspired him to collect more. Mr. Potvin said Mr. Surprenant had collected four antique firefighting vehicles in all, and he was looking forward to showing them off at the Bytown Fire Brigade's 25th anniversary next month.
"He just loved it so much," Mr. Potvin said about Mr. Surprenant's interest in firefighting history, adding that the latter was also a member of Gatineau's firefighters historical society.
Published in the News 10 Now, NY - August 4, 2008
OGDENSBURG, N.Y. -- It's a difficult day for State Police in the North Country. Sunday night, one of their own was killed in an accident on the Prescott Bridge in Ogdensburg.
"He always had a smile on his face. He was always happy and he made everyone else happy around him," said Dave Chauvin, State Police Captain.
Trooper Shawn Snow was a 19-year veteran of the state police force, most recently working at the Prescott Bridge. There, he checked trucks at the border.
"Weighing trucks and their loads and also the equipment on those vehicles, sometimes having to put those vehicles out of service because they were unsafe on the highway," said Chauvin.
If there was a problem with a vehicle, Snow was there to help fix it, just like he was Sunday night. Snow was killed helping change a flat tire on an antique fire truck.
The truck's ladder hit power lines above it, electrocuting both him and the driver of the truck, a firefighter from Canada. Co-workers say Trooper Snow was always lending a helping hand.
"He was the guy that carried scales around and actually put them under the trucks and then checked all their equipment. So he was constantly under trucks doing that kind of service anyway," said Chauvin.
And that willingness to help others is what Trooper Snow's coworkers and friends will miss most.
"He would drop everything to help one of his fellow troopers or to help a friend or family member. That was his life, was just taking care of others," said Chauvin.
State Police are still investigating the events that led to the death of their coworker and friend.
Calling hours for Trooper Snow will be Wednesday at the Green Funeral Home in Gouverneur from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. The funeral will follow on Thursday at Saint James Catholic church in Gouverneur at 11 a.m.
Published in the The Associated Press - August 4, 2008
MONTREAL - Pierre Surprenant had retired from active firefighting, but he never parked his passion for the craft.
The collector of vintage fire vehicles was heading home Sunday from exhibiting two of his treasured pieces in northern New York when his fire truck popped a tire.
The 51-year-old Quebecer and New York state trooper Shawn Snow, 47, who stopped to help, were electrocuted when the truck's ladder struck a high-voltage power line.
Police in Ogdensburg said the men were killed instantly.
Surprenant's friend Will Brooks met up with him over the weekend in Syracuse at an annual gathering of aficionados of antique fire trucks.
Brooks remembered watching the former Canadian Forces firefighter during the singing of the American and Canadian anthems, played for the event's opening ceremony.
He said Surprenant was decked out in his old uniform.
"He snapped to attention and saluted," Brooks told The Canadian Press on Monday.
"It was a poignant moment looking back because he was saluting the Canadian flag. Now he's gone.
"He loved these things. They were part of his soul."
Police received a call Sunday around 4:45 p.m. that a fire truck was in flames near the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.
Surprenant's 1960 Pierre Thibault Ltd. fire truck was towing a trailer carrying his own vintage car - a 1909 Model T Ford formerly of Ottawa's Bytown Fire Brigade - when its rear tire went flat, said Ogdensburg Police Chief Richard Polniak.
Surprenant was travelling by himself, heading back to his Montreal-area home.
Police said Snow, a 19-year veteran, slid under the truck to fix the tire while Surprenant extended the truck's ladder to shift the weight away from the flat.
"How it ended up touching the wires, whether a piece of equipment failed and it slipped and touched the wires, or whether the act of jacking it up higher on one side caused it to touch, we just don't know yet," Polniak said.
Snow's death, meanwhile, was a blow to the state police force.
"This type of accident is somewhat incomprehensible," said Maj. Richard C. Smith Jr., the local commander.
"It is a terrible day."
Georges Potvin attended the fire-truck show and was driving Surprenant's son Pierre-Marc home the last time he spoke to his friend.
It was about 15 minutes before Surprenant was electrocuted.
"He phoned us because he had broken down," Potvin said in a phone interview from Gatineau, Que. "His truck had a flat tire and he was trying to repair it."
Potvin did not hear of the accident until after he had dropped off Pierre-Marc and arrived home.
Surprenant, the former fire chief of the Ottawa International Airport, also leaves behind his son Simon. Both sons are about 20 years old, Potvin said.
"He was somebody with a big heart," Potvin said of Surprenant.
"He was full of enthusiasm for everything. When you needed help he was there."
Gary Barnes knew Surprenant from their work for the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
He said Surprenant had been trying to establish an auxiliary service in Gatineau that would serve coffee, soup and snacks to firefighters on the job during general alarms.
"Pierre was a very happy-go-lucky guy, a guy who was devoted to firefighting in every way," Barnes said.
He said the avid collector had four classic firefighting vehicles and dreamed of opening a museum of old fire trucks in the Gatineau area.
"He was interested in helping out," Barnes said.
"He had a lot of ideas trotting around in his head."
Meanwhile, Brooks, a co-founder of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said Surprenant had a "heart of gold."
"We often said when Pierre came into a room, he filled the room up," he said.
Brooks also said Surprenant, who started teaching this year at a firefighting school in Mirabel, Que., was always concerned about safety.
"Something went terribly wrong," he said.
"I'd be really surprised if he just didn't pay attention. That just wouldn't be like him."
The international bridge was temporarily closed, with traffic diverted to the Thousand Islands and Seaway bridges.
A state police accident reconstruction team is investigating the incident.
Published in the Watertown Daily Times - August 4, 2008
TRUCK LADDER HITS LINE: Trooper, Canadian were fixing flat near Ogdensburg international bridge
OGDENSBURG - A veteran state police trooper and a Canadian man were electrocuted Sunday in a freak accident while fixing a flat tire on an antique firetruck near the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.
Trooper Shawn W. Snow, 47, and an unidentified 51-year-old man were apparently killed instantly when the firetruck's ladder touched a live electrical wire, carrying a current through the truck, state police said. The international bridge was closed, with traffic diverted to the Thousand Islands and Seaway bridges.
"This type of accident is somewhat incomprehensible," Maj. Richard C. Smith Jr., commander of state police Troop B in Ray Brook, said at the Ogdensburg barracks. "It is a terrible day."
Trooper Snow was a 19-year veteran of the force and was assigned to the commercial vehicle enforcement unit. He was responsible for inspecting trucks that crossed the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge or were traveling area roadways.
The Ogdensburg Police Department responded to a call at 4:45 p.m. with the city Fire Department for a report of a firetruck on fire with people underneath it near the bridge. Police said a firetruck heading to Canada was towing another antique firetruck when it had a flat tire on the road approaching the bridge. Trooper Snow volunteered to help replace the flat tire.
The trooper was under the truck at the time, fixing the tire. The truck's boom was extended to redistribute the weight from the flat right rear tire. When the truck was lowered, the boom hit a live wire, killing both men instantly, police said.
St. Lawrence County Coroner Russell B. Lawrence III pronounced the men dead at 5:27 p.m., believing the cause of death was electrocution. The deaths were accidental, he said. The bodies were taken, by a state police escort, to Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center. Autopsies were expected to be performed today by Dr. Michael Sikirica at St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Utica.
"It is almost undescribable," Mr. Lawrence said. "It is such a tragic thing."
The firetruck was from the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation and was on its way back to Canada from a parade near Syracuse. The parade was sponsored by the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America.
"It is such a tragic occurrence," said David M. Sheen, the Ontario representative for the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, in a phone interview from Toronto. "Our prayers and thoughts are with the families that were tragically involved in this unfortunate event."
A state police accident reconstruction team was investigating the incident. State police were assisted by the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad, Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Canadian man had not yet been identified Sunday night because family members couldn't be reached. The larger firetruck had Quebec license plates and "Monti-Joli Region 4" on the door. The smaller truck said "Bytown, Ottawa."
"It is a tragedy for the law enforcement community tonight," Maj. Smith said. "The investigation is ongoing."
In Memory of Trooper Shawn Snow.
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