Jim Moore is leaving the driver's seat after four decades of towing in Fayette County, the Record Herald reported.
Moore turned a one-man operation into one of the area's larger towing services. According to the account, sharp increases in fuel and operating costs in September led him to retire. Moore's Towing Service grew to include a salvage storage lot along state Route 38 and took calls across state lines, handling repossessions, auction vehicle transport for dealerships and AAA roadside work. He also partnered regularly with local police departments, sheriff's offices and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Moore came to the county in 1963 as a child after his father took a job at Barnhart Oil on Market Street, the site now occupied by RealtyX. He was sweeping the shop at 13 and first drove a wrecker there. After 11 years as a mechanic at the Gusweiler dealership, he bought his own rig and launched the business.
His runs varied widely. In the late 1980s he hauled a house from behind the local library to East Street, and he once arrived at a motorcycle crash to learn the victim was a close friend. Family was part of the work: he met his wife, Beverly, on a blind date 36 years ago, and their first evening together was a tow call to Dayton. She kept the company books, and their daughter grew up riding along and learned the wrecker controls. The couple has two sons.
A breakdown in Ocala, Florida, where a stranger supplied parts from his own stock, shaped his habit of helping stranded drivers. The report says he kept some of the region's lowest rates and sometimes covered tows himself.
Moore joined the Dragin Angels Car Club in the 1990s and has served as its president for five years. In retirement he plans family time and work in his garage, where four classic vehicles have been restored and a fifth project awaits.