Frank Jay Staab

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 Frank Jay Staab was born March 5, 1938 in Mineola, New York.  Jay has been working in the towing industry for over the past 40 years.  Most of the time working for an employer.  In 1986, Jay formed his own towing company, “Tows R Us”.  Due to…

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Mary K. Cooper

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 Mary Katherine Kollman Cooper, or Katy as she is known to all was born July 9, 1936.  After her schooling she worked as a laboratory technician.  She married Louis Cooper, owner of Cooper Body & Towing, and mothered two daughters, Marci and Sherri. In 1972, the Cooper…

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Jeffrey I. Badgley

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 Jeffrey I. Badgley was born April 8, 1952 to Charles and Betty Badgley, the youngest of three children, in Hobart Indiana.  He graduated from Hobart High School where he was active in school politics and served as editor of the school year book his senior year.  He…

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James E. Hoagland

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 James E. Hoagland was born on April 1, 1929 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Prior to graduating from school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp.  He served actively for two years and in the reserve for another four. In 1951, Jim took a job at Swanson…

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Gene Gratzer

Gene was born April 15, 1940 in Tacoma, Washington and still makes his home in Tacoma with his wife Paula. Gene has 3 grown children from a prior marriage and Paula has 2 grown children. Gene has contributed to his community all of his life and is Past Exalted Ruler of Puyallup Elks Lodge 1450…

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Carvel Gay

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 Carvel began his career in 1965, with the purchase of his first service station.  Selling gas, checking under the hood, washing windows and automotive repairs, the old fashion way, were his specialties until 1970 when he added the towing business.  Gay’s Automotive and Towing Inc., a family…

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Axel H. Tischer

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 The Tischer Company (Tischer Fahrzeugbau) was founded in 1988 in Cham, Germany.  Before forming his own company, Axel Tischer worked for a trucking company that supplied towing equipment for the European market.  Not satisfied with the quality of the equipment being offered, Tischer left the company with…

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Arturo Cortez

Elected:           March 12, 1999 Inducted:        August 21, 1999 Mr. Arturo Cortez Gonzalez was born in 1941.  The oldest of eight brothers and sisters in a low-class family.  He was born in a little town 50 miles north of the city of Monterrey called Los Herrera.  His parents moved with him to the city of Monterrey…

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