Tow truck drivers give colleague final escort

The procession of some 80 tow trucks stretched for more than a mile yesterday: wreckers, flatbed ramp trucks, heavies for pulling tractor trailers and buses, and pickups packed with tools.

They came from Bedford, Braintree, Ipswich, Fitchburg, and Rhode Island to form a convoy that snaked from St. Monica's Catholic Church in South Boston to Castle Island. Led by a State Police cruiser with flashing lights, the parade rolled onto southbound Interstate 93, which was closed to traffic while the motorcade passed.

The procession was the final wish of Donald L. Wheeler of Weymouth, the owner of D&D Towing in South Boston, who died Sunday of a sudden illness at age 43. Wheeler's beige casket was tied with a yellow strap to the bed of his favorite tow truck, a 30-foot International 4300 with a shiny red cab.

"It was his life," his sister, Marlene Wheeler, said of his business. "It's what he did."

Towing is a seven-day, 24-hour industry that is at once competitive and collegial, drivers say. Running calls on stormy nights and weekends can be an exhausting life that few understand. When a driver dies, funerals can be an opportunity for fellow towers to show support.

"This is a real way for us to honor a fallen comrade," said Bill Johnson, president of the 1,200-member Statewide Towing Association. "When a police officer passes away, the same thing happens, or a fireman. It's the same type of brotherhood."

Wheeler grew up in the industry, his family said, driving tow trucks since he was a teen. A burly, teddy bear of a man, he liked to help, pulling up behind broken-down cars to aid people having a bad day. As a newlywed 15 years ago, Wheeler started D&D with one truck. It has grown to a fleet of 11. When the father of two daughters died, word spread through e-mail and phone calls that the family wanted a full towers' tribute.

"It's showing respect for a fallen tow truck driver," said Ricky Sica, the owner of Sica Towing in Malden, who took time off to drive his black and blue wrecker.

The length of the procession moved the family to tears. "I was proud," Marlene Wheeler said. "He worked very hard all of his life for that. He deserved it."