Donald J. Mesaros

Donald J. Mesaros was born in Youngstown, Ohio where he grew up dreaming of following in his dads footsteps as a tow truck driver and practicing backing the cars into spaces at the early age of 10. In 1969 Don Sr. purchased a brand new Holmes 440 on a C- 30 Chevrolet and there was 12 year old Don Jr. working day in and day out by his dad’s side while they assembled the truck together. By the time he was 14 he was responding to calls and lending a hand on scene. In one instance Don and his dad responded to a rolled over vehicle down an embankment. On arrival Don Sr. decided he would need a second truck to get the vehicle recovered, Junior however thought they could get it up with some creativity and tried to convince dad how it could be done. Dad of course knew best and headed back to the shop with the officer to get the second wrecker, leaving junior on the scene to watch over things. As they returned and rounded the bend there was junior beaming with joy and waiting with the Oldsmobile all recovered and hooked up to the back of the truck! The legend was born… As the owner of Mesaros Towing and Auto Works Heavy Duty in Youngstown and Milford, Ohio Don along with his wife Donna have successfully created a well recognized business. Don has two step children Joei and Tug and Tug works alongside running Auto Works. Don’s dedication to the industry and the towers of Ohio is second to none. He has served the Ohio Towing associations as a Charter Member in many different Board positions from Director to President and was instrumental in getting the three associations to combine and form the well recognized and powerful Towing and Recovery Association of Ohio (TRAO). Through Don’s efforts and ideas the popular free TRAO training class program for operators was created in 2007 and continues to teach operators on an annual basis at no charge. Shortly thereafter Don’s vision resulted in the creation of the “TRAO Injured Operators Fund” to help those injured in the line of duty and ease the burdens on their family. Don has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years for his dedication and efforts including a 1981 Commendation from the Youngstown Police Department for his actions in assisting officers in the arrest of two individuals following an armed robbery, a 1992 Citation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the 1999 Wreckmaster of the Year Award. His training and certification credentials read like a who’s who of the industry with credentials in air cushion recovery, Haz Mat, Incident Management, Towing and Recovery and a certified level 6/7 Wreckmaster. Don served his community as a volunteer fireman for over 24 years and is active in joint training workshops with the local police and fireman on an annual basis.  Don remains active with the TRAO in legislative efforts to improve the industry for all towers and spends countless hours lobbying on their behalf while driving towards his goal of having the operators and industry respected for the professionals they are.