Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of 67-year-old Julian Baugh who died on Oct. 29 from injuries sustained when his driverless truck ran over him. Here’s the story from The Gwinnett Daily Post:

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Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of 62-year-old Anthony Poortinga of Wenatchee, WA, who was the owner of Anthony’s Cheap Tow towing service. He died on Saturday, 11/27, in a house fire. Judging from the story comments, he was a great guy who will be missed deeply. Here’s the story from The Wenatchee World (click the link to go to the newspaper online, there is an additional story from 2005 on Anthony):

EAST WENATCHEE — Anthony Poortinga, 62, the well-liked and flamboyant owner of Anthony’s Cheap Tow towing service, died Saturday night, his body found by firefighters inside his East Wenatchee home.
Firefighters responded at 11:33 p.m. Saturday to a house filled with smoke at 167 12th St. N.E. Douglas County Fire District 2 firefighters quickly knocked down a small fire and found Poortinga in a bedroom while searching and ventilating the house, said Douglas County Fire Chief Chuck Fenton. Poortinga lived alone and was the only person in the house at the time of the fire. There were no smoke alarms in the house. Fenton said it appeared Poortinga had awakened and tried to make it to a window before being overcome by smoke. The fire call came from an East Wenatchee Police officer who spotted the smoke.

Fenton said he knew Poortinga personally and found him to be a very friendly person who was always willing to help others.

“He really didn’t have a chance,” Fenton said. “If there’s anything we can take from this, it’s a lesson that smoke detectors are critical. It could have made a difference.” The smoke started in a closet close to Poortinga’s bedroom. It’s likely the fire was caused by an electrical short, but impossible to say for sure, Fenton said.

East Wenatchee Police confirmed the victim was Poortinga Sunday after notifying his relatives. He was an East Wenatchee resident since 1979. An autopsy will be made to determine the cause of death, said Dan Rierson, East Wenatchee Police assistant chief.

Poortinga was well known around the valley as the owner of Anthony’s Cheap Tow. In his wide-brimmed cowboy hat, bandana tied around his neck, pearl-buttoned denim shirt and cowboy boots, he could be seen nearly every day driving one of his tow trucks around the valley or stopped by the side of the road helping a motorist. When he wasn’t on a towing mission, he could be found in one of his trucks reading a paperback mystery book or in a local cafe. His favorite haunts were Jimmy’s Diner on the Eastside and Denny’s and Smitty’s restaurants in Wenatchee. He loved to read.

“When he didn’t come in Sunday, we wondered where he was,” Sherri Schoonover, a waitress at Jimmy’s Diner, said this morning. “He would come here every day and order the breakfast special and read a book. He was very well liked here.” Schoonover said he would often come in with his daughter and grandchildren. “He was like family. He will be missed.”

Poortinga started Anthony’s Cheap Tow in 2004 after retiring from a career as a private contractor installing power and telephone poles throughout the Northwest. Interviewed for a 2005 Wenatchee World article, Poortinga said he started the towing business because his previous career had kept him on the road all the time and made it difficult to make friends.

He started out with a pickup and flatbed trailer that he used to transport race cars, then added the towing service and gradually added several more vehicles, stationed around the valley. The blue trucks with their Anthony’s Cheap Tow signs were his only form of advertising. He said the business didn’t make him a lot of money, but he loved it because it gave him a chance to help people and make a lot of friends.

“I’ve always done things a little different,” he said in the 2005 article. “I’ve always blazed my own trail.”

Rick Steigmeyer: 664-7151

steigmeyer@wenatcheeworld.com

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Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of Anton Agurs, owner of Sanctified Towing, who was found shot to death on June 7. Here’s the story from www.myfoxdc.com:

OXON HILL, Md. – Alethea Agurs can remember everything from Tuesday night. It wasn’t unusual for Anton Agurs to get a call for a tow late at night. He owned his own tow truck, naming the business, Sanctified Towing. He came up with the name five years ago in bible study and ran the business from their District Heights home.


“I don’t know exactly what the job was. He received a call to do a tow and he left maybe a little before ten [p.m.] to go and do a tow job,” said his wife.

An hour and a half after he left, Anton Agurs was found dead alongside his tow truck. His wife says he had been shot.

“I’m truly going to miss him. He would do anything for anybody. A family man. All he wanted to do was work for his family. Take care of his family,” his wife said.

Prince George’s County Police found Anton’s body around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, just outside Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm, a national park by the Potomac River in Oxon Hill. The family says the truck’s lights were still flashing. Police say they got a call about a man unconscious in the road. No one seems to know why he was there or if he ever made it to his tow call.

The park closes at 4:30 p.m. The gates are locked and employees leave. There is nothing else around except for the cars speeding by on the beltway nearby.

“This is truly a senseless act. There’s nothing I know that he did to deserve this,” said Alethea.

She says Anton was always careful about who he towed. He worked with auto repair shops, through contracts, did emergency roadside assistance, referrals and repeat business. Anton avoided repossessing cars or other types of towing that might lead to angry confrontations.

Police are still investigating a motive and are not saying if anything was stolen.

“Was it a set up? It very well could have been. Why? I couldn’t tell you,” his wife said, only guessing what might have happened.

Hardest of all has been explaining the murder to their two children.

“I have a 13-year-old daughter and I have a one-year-old son. So of course he doesn’t understand this. My daughter is heartbroken,” she said.

Anton Agurs’ son is named Anton too. What he understands is daddy is gone. Now his family finds strength in what he would tell them.

“Be strong. Live life. Take care of my children. I got your back. It will be alright,” Alethea Agurs can hear her husband saying.

He was a husband, a father, the life of this family now gone.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/maryland/tow-truck-driver-found-shot-to-death-in-oxon-hill-060811#.TfDQNVvH_cs#ixzz1Omr9p3rF

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Sadly, we have lost another staunch TRAA supporter and great friend of the towing industry and its associations, R.L. Owens.  R.L. was founder of Owens Auto Parts and Garage in Corbin, Kentucky. He was a member of several local and state boards and a dedicated deacon in the Central Baptist Church.

In a tribute by Scott Burrows, he wrote: “Sometime last year, my last visit with RL was somewhat painful, for many reasons.  Both he and my father had begun suffering memory loss problems with their advancing age.  Dad and I stopped by the business and were quickly directed to visit RL and Hettie at their house…we were met with open arms and broad smiles from them both.  As we visited together, I realized how fortunate I was to be in the presence of two men who had accomplished recoveries with only rudimentary equipment, had rescued motorists and truckers with only limited mechanical wreckers, and had enjoyed the success that only a “hard-day’s night” can provide.  As they shared “war stories” and matched humorous asides with each other, I could only imagine how hard they must have worked with the limited resources that operators had access to in the early years of towing.”
RL’s funeral was held on Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at the Central Baptist Church in Corbin, KY.  In lieu of flowers, donations will be accepted at Central Baptist Church and Kentucky Tech Corbin Area Center, 1909 S. Snyder St. , Corbin, KY 40701

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It is with sadness that the Burrows Family announces the passing of Paul Andrew Burrows. Paul represented the third generation to lead Burrows Garage and Wrecker Service of Sligo, KY. His life has been filled with an abundance of successes that are evident in the legacy that remains today. His passion for helping others thrives within those that follow in his footsteps. Paul was born February 24, 1924 to Lottie and Jesse “Snooks” Burrows of Sligo, KY. He served in World War II and received a Purple Heart. His accomplishments throughout a lifetime of service to the trucking and towing industry are evident in the countless relationships Paul created while serving his fellow man with great skill and hard work. TRAK awarded Paul the “Million Mile Tower” award. He was the oldest living TRAA Level 3 Certified Operator. He was a lifelong member of the Sligo Baptist Church. The sadness that we feel fades in the brilliance of the memories we share of a man of great honor, strength and faith. In memory of a great man

The arrangements for visitation and his funeral are as follows:
Visitation will be at Ransdell Funeral Home in Bedford, KY 40006 on Wednesday 8/17 from 5pm – 8pm, Thursday 8/18 from 2pm – 8pm, Friday 8/19 from 11am – 1pm. The funeral service will be at Sligo Baptist Church on Friday at 2pm. He will be laid to rest at the Sligo Cemetery following the funeral service. A procession including delegations from the Towing community is being arranged to escort Paul from the funeral home in Bedford to the church in Sligo. 

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The post UPDATED: Tow Truck Driver’s Name Released in Hit-and-Run Accident – Glen Burnie, MD Patch appeared first on .

The owner of a Beaufort tow truck company who was struck by a pickup as it ran off Interstate 95 in Jasper County died at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah on Saturday night, according to Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls.
Denise Peeples Smith, 55, owner of East Coast Recovery, was operating a roll-back wrecker parked in the north-bound emergency lane on I-95 near the Coosawhatchie exit when the pickup veered off the interstate and crashed into the vehicle being loaded onto the wrecker, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Cpl. Bob Beres.
Both vehicles then struck Smith and her friend, Phyllis Amsler Cook, 52, of Beaufort, as the women stood next to the wrecker.
Cook was killed instantly. Smith was taken to Memorial University Medical Center, where she later died, Sauls said.
The driver of the vehicle that hit the wrecker, James Thomas, 61, of Florida, was taken to Colleton Medical Center in Walterboro with non-life threatening injuries, Sauls said. His condition was unknown Sunday.
The driver of the truck that was being towed was uninjured, Sauls said, adding that the man witnessed the entire incident unfold.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing, according to a Highway Patrol news release.
According to officials at the scene, the vehicle Thomas was driving contained multiple bottles of alcohol, though officials said it was too early in the investigation to know whether alcohol played a role in the crash.
Smith’s daughter, Sonya Eppenger, 33, said her mother and Cook, both longtime Beaufort residents, had been friends since high school. Cook had been riding along in the tow truck Saturday to keep her mother company, she said.
Smith inherited the wrecker service from her husband, Ron Smith, who died last year, Eppenger said. She said her mother held her own in a male-dominated business.
“I would help her sometimes in the truck and we would pull up to change a tire and there’d be a grown man there with this look on his face,” Eppenger said. “She worked hard and did the best she could.”
Funeral arrangements for the women, which are being handled by Anderson Funeral Home, are pending, Eppenger said.

Read more:

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Hit and Run Kills Tow Operator | NBC Los Angeles:

Police are seeking the driver of a tan sedan who killed a tow truck a driver in Riverside last night and then fled the scene.
The hit-and-run driver swerved into the tow operator as he tried to load a disabled vehicle onto his flatbed tow truck on the right shoulder of the road on the eastbound side.
The operator has been identified as Christopher Tatro, 40, of Corona, who worked for Advanced Auto Tow. Tatro taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he died on Saturday.
The collision occured at about 2:05 a.m. just west of Monroe Street in Riverside. Witnesses told the California Highway Patrol that the tan sedan continued on afterward, exiting the freeway at Adams Street.
Part of the vehicle was left behind at the scene and officials said they have footage of the tan sedan after the incident occurred.
The CHP is seeking the public’s help in tracking down the hit-and-run driver, asking witnesses or others with information to contact the California Highway Patrol, Riverside Area office, at (951) 637-8000.

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Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of Chico Schewirey, 46, who died on 12/28. Schewirey was a tow truck operator and manager for Wertz Towing of Canfield, OH, and he had worked there since he was 14.

Mark “Chico” Schewirey – SalemNews.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Ohio, Community Information
The Salem News:

“CANFIELD-Mark “Chico” Schewirey, 46, of Canfield died of a massive heart attack Wednesday afternoon.

Born June 12, 1965 in Salem, he was the son of Fredrick and Loretta Feicht Schewirey.

Mr. Schewirey was a tow truck operator and manager of Wertz Towing. He had worked for Wertz Towing since he was 14.

In addition to his mother, Loretta Schewirey of Canfield, he leaves his wife, the former Cathy Coy whom he married July 4, 1987; his daughter, Rachel and his son Curtis, both at home; and his brother, David Schewirey of Canfield.

Friends may call from 2 to 5 p.m Monday at Lane Funeral Home, Canfield Chapel. Private services will be at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Schewirey Family for Curtis and Rachel’s education.

Family and friends may view this obituary and send condolences at www.lanefuneralhomes.com.”

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