Hero returns home
Thousands gather as Cpl. Tyler Crooks's body is brought back to Port ColbornePosted By MARK TAYTI/mtayti@wellandtribune.ca
PORT COLBORNE — This lakeside city opened its heart Saturday to welcome home fallen soldier Tyler Crooks.
Thousands of people lined the route into town as sadness and regret mixed with pride and love.
For many, the reality of Cpl. Crooks’ death hit home as the black hearse led by a Niagara Regional Police escort quietly rolled past. Tears freely flowed to punctuate the tragic loss of a 24-year-old native son and soldier who was driving into Port Colborne for the last time.
For those lining the streets, the honour guard along Clarence Street completed the hero’s welcome for a young man with deep roots in the city.
The scene was a grim reminder of a faraway war that has already claimed the lives of more than 100 Canadian soldiers.
Cpl. Crooks was killed in Afghanistan on March 20 along with three other Canadian soldiers. He died in an improvised explosion in Kandahar province on his 24th birthday while serving with the 3rd Battalion, November Company, Royal Canadian Regiment.
He was due to return home to Canada on April 17.
Crooks and Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, 28, of Sault Ste. Marie, were killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in the Zhari district. Crooks and Vernelli, along with other soldiers, were in the final stages of clearing out a village and about to sit down with local elders when a soldier set off a booby trap.
One local interpreter was killed and one was injured in the attack, reported the Canadian Forces.
Trooper Jack Bouthillier of Hearst, Ont., and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, of New Brunswick, of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, were killed just hours later when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Shah Wali Kot district, a region northwest of the city. Eight other soldiers were injured in the two blasts.
All around Port Colborne, signs paid tribute to the Lakeshore Catholic High School graduate who played Junior B hockey for the Port Colborne Sailors growing up. Yellow ribbons and Canadian flags were part of the tragic landscape that honoured the fallen soldier’s return.
In a wireless world where information is instantaneous, news of Cpl. Crooks’ long ride home from MacKinnon and Bowes funeral home in Toronto was updated regularly by cellphone as the procession neared the city limits.
The Highway of Heroes along the QEW and Highway 406 was marked by thousands of Canadians who had turned out in communities along the procession’s route to gather on highway overpasses to pay their respects.
The response in Port Colborne was huge.
“There is no yellow ribbon left in town,” Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey said as tears rolled from beneath his dark sunglasses.
Wiping away the tears, Badawey spoke of a city in mourning and a community’s response to one family’s grief.
“The turnout today is phenomenal,” Badawey said. “There is a lot of pride here today.”
He hoped the expressions of love and respect from the community demonstrated to the Crooks family they were not alone.
“We’re going through it together,” he said.
Dorothy Kettle’s voice cracked as she spoke about what it meant to be in Port Colborne Saturday.
Kettle, a relative of the Crooks family, travelled from Toronto to stand in front of Davidson Funeral Home to wait for Cpl. Crooks’ return home.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “It’s been a pretty rough week. I feel for my cousin, Karen (Tyler’s mother). Words can’t express …”
Rocco Arillotta and friends sent a message to “Crooksie” from his corner lot on Windsor Terrace and Highway 58. It simply said: Thank You Tyler, Our Hero.
“We all grew up on the same side of town,” Arillotta said. “We’re all really close friends.”
Chad Chevalier, who chose the wording for the sign, said his brother Brandon and Cpl. Crooks were “best friends.”
“That’s the least we can do,” Chevalier said. “This is from the heart.”
Jack Cloutier remembered Cpl. Crooks as a person who knew how to have fun and make people laugh. All agreed his loss has had a tremendous impact on the community.
“Everybody feels sad,” Chevalier said. “That sadness, it’s going to turn to pride. I’m so proud it hurts.”
Bonnie Tkac-Feetham, the principal of St. John Bosco Catholic School, was busy planting Canadian flags along Westside Road at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Her daughter Kate, who is currently living in England, went to high school with Cpl. Crooks.
“When I told her I was doing this, she thanked me,” Tkac-Feetham said. “This is just the way we are here. When one person hurts, we all hurt.”
She also spoke of the young Canadian soldier’s sacrifice.
“I think it is really important that we remember what this young boy did for our country. I hope the children remember.”
Tim and Susie D’Onofrio, Dave and Lorrie Madden and Darren and Hannah Madden parked two pickup trucks at the end of Westside Rd. and were putting up a sign that said “You’re Our Hero, Tyler.”
“We all knew Tyler,” Susie said. “We just want (the Crookses) to see how much we love them. The city has really risen to the occasion.”
She said the tribute was an expression of love, respect and caring.
Dave Madden said he knew Tyler his whole life and he and his wife Lorrie are godparents to Cpl. Crooks’ brother, Tage.
“It floored me when my wife called and told me Tyler had been killed. I didn’t want to believe it.”
Madden said he attended the repatriation ceremony that was held in Trenton, Ont., when Cpl. Crooks’ first returned to Canada.
Susie was handing out yellow lapel ribbons with small Canadian flag pins.
“You need one of these,” she said.
Clarence St. around the funeral home was lined with people by 4 p.m. By 5 p.m. Clarence St. all the way back to Steele St. was brimming with people who had come to pay their respects. Everywhere were signs and Canadian flags. People were quick to share personal stories about the hometown hero who had made an indelible impression on the community during his short lifetime.
Mindy Snider, a cafeteria worker at Lakeshore, stood on Clarence St. with Laurie Poirier and Ett Moore. They remembered Cpl. Crooks as a student.
“It’s remarkable, people coming together at times like this.”
Remarkable, but not unexpected.
“It’s not surprising,” Lakeshore teacher Pat Baiano said. “We come together in good times and in bad times.”
Emily Brown, a Grade 12 student at Lakeshore, said she was out Friday putting yellow ribbons around her house. Her boyfriend, Private Joseph Campbell, is currently serving at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.
She held a sign Saturday that read: Cpl. Tyler Crooks, A Fallen Hero.
“I’m here showing my support,” she said.
Romeo Daley, a Korean War veteran, attended the homecoming in uniform.
“I’m here to honour a fallen comrade,” he said. “But for the grace of God, that could have been me many years ago. This is the least we can do, to honour him and support him.”
Daley, from Fort Erie, said his grandson had once played Junior B hockey with Cpl. Crooks as a Port Colborne Sailor.
Daley was touched by the outpouring of community support.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s nice to see people other than military showing their respect.”
Visitation for Crooks will be held in the chapel of the Davidson Funeral Home, 135 Clarence St., on Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The funeral will be held on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 688 Elm St.
On the day of the funeral, the procession will leave the funeral home and proceed to the church. Due to the limited capacity of the church, the Crooks family requests that the attendance of the Military Funeral Service be reserved for immediate family and close friends.
Members of the general public are asked to proceed to the overflow facility located at Lakeshore Catholic High School’s Auditorium, 150 Janet St., where there will be a live video feed of the funeral service.
Committal service and official military interment ceremony will follow at St. Paul’s Cemetery on 3rd Concession.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "Wounded Warriors" fund. Online condolences and guest register are available at
www.davidsonfuneralhomes.com.
Article ID# 1500912
