The Story of the Carley Crooker Tree
One month before the tragic murder of NYS Trooper Andrew "AJ" Sperr, on March 1, 2006, he and his good friend and neighbor, Skip Drake, volunteered to help Carley Crooker trim a stately old stand of sugar maple trees on the Crooker homestead. The three men spent several days cleaning up the trees lining both sides of the road known to locals as Maple Ridge, and he nearly finished in the days before Trooper Sperr was killed.
One tree, immediately opposite the Crooker home, had been struck by lightning some time earlier. The men had taken part of the tree down, leaving the remaining ten feet of trunk standing for another day. That day never came. To pay tribute to a wonderful man and friend Carley left the remaining trunk of the tree in place and installed a bronze plaque in memory of Trooper Sperr inscribed:
In Loving Memory
New York State Trooper
Andrew J. Sperr
March 1, 2006
It wasn't until a year later that Trooper Sperr's family became aware of the memorial as a result of chance meeting with a neighbor of the Crookers. The neighbor took them to see the plaque and meet the Crookers. Upon arriving Trooper Sperr's father was surprised to recognize the farm. He realized that he had hunted Canada Geese on it in years past and the man who owned the farm, known only as Carley to him, had been a friend of his son had placed the plaque on the tree.
Carley and his wife, Jan, have since moved to a newly built house near the old homestead. A suggestion that the "Carley Crooker Tree" be moved to the Sperr Memorial Park was recently acted on and the entire trunk, plaque, and weather cap were transported to the park. It holds a place of honor amongst the several other benches and plaques dedicated to NYS Troopers who have given their lives in the line of duty since AJ's death.
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