ITRHFM Adds 28 Names to the Wall of the Fallen
The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum (ITRHFM) added 28 new names to the Wall of the Fallen during its recent annual ceremony honoring towing and road service operators who have died in the line of service.
The names include those from previous years as the details of fatalities become known. In all, the Wall of the Fallen now has over 450 names of men and women who have lost their lives while serving the motoring public in the towing and road service industry. (See below for complete list of towing operator names added in 2019.)
The Wall of the Fallen ceremony seeks to honor towing operators whose lives were cut short and the Survivor Fund provides a one-time gift to the families. Survivors’ families also receive a Certificate of Honor at the ceremony.
“It is with great sadness that we find ourselves in a position that requires the Wall of the Fallen,” stated Jeffrey Godwin, Wall of the Fallen and Survivor Fund co-chairman. “Despite the tragedy represented, we do find comfort in honoring our fallen operators and in serving their families in their time of loss.”
The annual ceremony also aims to boost motorists’ awareness of Move Over laws in effect in all 50 states that require drivers to move over one lane and/or slow down when approaching an emergency vehicle.
Annually, the motoring public’s failure to slow down or move over, in addition to drunken or negligent driving, unnecessarily claims many towers’ lives.
Source: International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum
2019 Wall of the Fallen
(In alphabetical order)
Phillip F. Amsden, Ind., 2010
Patric Noel Barrio, Texas, 2019
Michael Charles Buffington, Miss., 2019
Patrick Cisneros, N.M., 2019
Garold L. Cline, W.V., 2018
Jerry E. Davenport, Ark., 2018
Ernest Linden Dean, K.Y., 1945
Steven E. Eldridge, N.C., 2019
Erwin Mendoza Geremillo, Calif., 2019
Trevor A. Haas, Ill., 2018
Richard Arturo Hernandez, Calif., 1999
Jesse Hettmann, Wis., 2019
Keith Holt, Sr., Texas, 2019
Elwood Allan Humphries, Va., 2018
Clarence C. Jones, Jr., Pa., 1963
Charles C. McGough, Texas, 2018
Juan Manuel Morga, Calif., 2018
James Robert Morris, Calif., 2019
Terrell Dean Pack, Texas, 2019
Willie J. Passmore, Jr., Neb., 2011
Edgar Arthur Pilon, Canada, 1954
Kevin B. Raasch, Kansas, 2019
Clarence Hugh Souther, Jr., Ga., 1962
Benny G. Sprinkle, N.C., 2019
John L. Stewart, Mo., 2018
Paul Wayne Taylor, Jr., Texas, 2018
Jason Stuart Throne, Ind., 2019
Michael R. White. Okla., 2018