ITRHFM Adds 28 Names to the Wall of the Fallen

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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