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.”

From Footnotes TowBlog: Towing News Around The Web (www.thetowblog.com)
Posted by Cyndi Kight, Associate Editor of Towing and Recovery Footnotes

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The shots of the flattened flatbed are unbelievable… The first wrecker driver threw himself out of the truck just seconds before it was crushed by a jackknifed semi!
Here’s the story from NBC15.com:

Dangerous roads and questionable driving cause two crashes that come mere inches from killing tow truck drivers.
Tonight they say if other drivers don’t learn their lesson, someone is going to die.
The pictures make it tough to believe anyone could walk away alive.
A flat bed tow truck, crushed like an aluminum can.
Bossert Auto Body owner Ed Bossert says, “My wrecker driver looked out of the window just in time to jump.”
Friday afternoon on Highway 151, just outside of Mineral Point, a semi driver loses control, jackknifes and goes sliding straight for a wrecker parked on the side of the road.
The tow truck driver, in the cab at the time, sees the semi coming and dives out of the truck into the ditch a second before impact. The semi slides up the wrecker’s ramp, shears off the top of the cab and pushes the wrecker 300 feet down the road.
Bossert says, “You know, I can replace the wrecker. I couldn’t have replaced the guy. I don’t know what I would have told his wife or the family. It’s one of those things. People have to slow down.”
In 30 years Bossert has never seen anything like it, and the dangerous weekend was just beginning.
On highway 151 alone there were two close calls and with fractions of a second difference, they could have been far worse.
A tow driver working for Greenwood Auto in Dodgeville says he thought he was dead.
Around 2 o’clock this morning he was pulling a car out of the ditch on 151, just 7 miles down the road from Friday’s crash. He says a semi slid into his wrecker, throwing him 10 feet into the ditch.
In both crashes everyone escaped serious injury.
Bossert says, “It’s just totally unbelievable that no one was killed.”
Tonight both incidents prompt the same message.
Bossert says, “People have to learn to slow down.”
Employees at both of these towing companies say they’ve seen their share of close calls over the years and many of them have been too close for comfort.
But they say these crashes are about as scary as it gets.

From Footnotes TowBlog: Towing News Around The Web (www.thetowblog.com)

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