Longtime family friend Bobby Stackhouse of Canfield, left, comforts Mary Utsinger, the widow of Arthur “Buzz” Utsinger, during visitation outside of Utsinger’s Towing on South Avenue, Boardman. Buzz’s casket remained for about 90 minutes on his favorite truck in front of the business. Staff photo / R. Michael Semple

BOARDMAN — Seeing a casket on the flatbed of a tow truck rolling down South Avenue with lots of other trucks in line behind it isn’t a common sight, but was a fitting solution to a tow-truck driver’s funeral during a pandemic.

The procession was for Arthur “Buzz” Utsinger, 58, owner of Utsinger’s Towing, 4747 South Ave., who died Friday.

The trucks pulled out of Rossi Brothers and Lellio Funeral Home on South Avenue following a small service and made the short trek south to the Utsinger’s Towing Co.

There, Buzz’s casket remained for about 90 minutes on his favorite truck in front of the business.

The parking area filled with friends and family, despite the 30-degree weather. A lane was maintained through the parking lot so others could pay their respects while remaining in their vehicles so that no one would be left out for fear of the novel coronavirus.

“We had one hour at the funeral home, and I wanted to accomodate his friends because he was loved by so many. And the best I could do to accommodate was this,” his wife, Mary Utsinger, said.

“I had to make sure I did something special for him. He would have loved this,” she said standing among the crowd, many dressed for cold-weather tow-truck driving.

Because of the high number of virus cases and deaths, the funeral home limited the number of people in the facility to 25 — not even close to the number of people who wanted to pay their respects.

BIG MAN, BIG HEART

“He was a very big man, and his heart was as big as his stature. He was just full of love. He would help anybody. He was just an amazing man,” Mary Utsinger said. “He worked here 40 years. Towing was his thing.”

He had a lot of friends, especially in the towing business, she said.

“This is perfect. They could all come up to the casket and touch it and say goodbye,” she said.

Neither Buzz nor his friends were the type to be afraid of cold weather, so an outdoor gathering in the dead of winter was not a concern.

“He worked in it, never afraid of being out in the cold or snow. That’s what we did. When it was real snowy, we worked 29 hours straight,” she said.

Tow-truck drivers know each other and rely on each other, said Mel Marshall, owner of Mel’s Towing of Alliance.

“A lot of people don’t realize the family we are,” he said. For example, if a customer of Mel’s breaks down in the Youngstown area, it doesn’t make sense for Mel to drive to Youngstown, so he called Buzz.

“We work together like that. It helps the people. On a cold day like this, would you want to wait an hour or wait 10 minutes?”

And Buzz was a “great man,” Marshall said. “If you ever needed anything, he would come and help you. He’s one of those guys, it’s going to be a loss.”

BUSINESS LIKE FAMILY

Buzz’s stepdaughter Ashley Lara, 20, got into the business because of Buzz and his towing company, she said. “He’s been in my life since I was 3,” she said. One of the big things she learned from him was cleanliness.

From his vehicles to his shop, “he loved having everything clean,” she said.

Marshall noted that Buzz’s personal truck, on which his casket was placed, had an almost pristine deck.

“That thing is like brand new,” Marshall said. “And it’s not brand new.”

Various family members said Utsinger’s Towing will continue on as it has. Buzz’s father, Arthur, who is deceased, started the business.

Nick LaNeve, owner of A&M Towing of Girard, said he has known Buzz since they were about 18 years old.

“He was more than a brother to me. Both of our dads started these businesses, and we took them over,” he said. “We met each other running tows.”

erunyan@tribtoday.com