Larry Gilje, owner of Larry's Towing in Grand Forks, is being remembered by other area wrecker operators as a hard worker with an optimistic outlook on life.
"He was always up," said Wayne Anderson, owner of Karriers Inc. in Grand Forks. "He would never say no because it was cold or snowy."
Grand Forks police identified Gilje as the man killed in an accident that occurred Monday in the back parking lot of Karriers Inc., 809 S. 48th St.
Gilje was hitching a semitrailer to a wrecker when he was pinned between the two vehicles. The 65-year-old was dead when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, according to police.
Anderson said he discovered the accident when he came outside to say hello to Gilje, a longtime friend. Both vehicles were on level ground at the time of the incident, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Nobody's really sure how it happened," Anderson said.
Tuesday, Lt. Grant Schiller wasn't able to shed light on how the accident occurred. An autopsy was done Monday afternoon, Schiller said.
Anderson said Gilje, who lived in Grand Forks and previously in Bottineau, N.D., had many close friends. "He had no enemies," he said.
Gilje, who specialized in towing over-the-road trucks, had been in the business for at least 30 years, Anderson said.
Anderson said farmers knew Gilje as one of the few wrecker operators who would tow equipment stuck in soft fields.
George Voigt, whose family owns Jim's Towing in West Fargo, N.D., said he often worked with Gilje in situations that required more than one heavy-duty wrecker operator.
Voigt said he and Gilje had a running joke about the territory they each covered.
"He wasn't supposed to come down below (Highway) 200, and I wasn't supposed to go north of 200," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
If Gilje got a call that took him south of that line, he'd call "to see if the gate was open," Voigt said.
Ole Olson, owner of a towing business in Minot, described Gilje as "one of the finest wrecker operators I ever run across."
Olson, who knew Gilje for decades, said many operators are reckless in their work.
"That's just not him," he said.
Olson said Gilje was a self-sufficient operator who excelled at righting vehicles and winching them out of the mud.
Olson said he and others hope to organize a procession of wreckers for Gilje's funeral.
"We're going to miss him dearly," he said.
A visitation for Gilje has been scheduled to run from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday at Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau. His funeral is set for 2 p.m. Friday in Grace Lutheran Brethren Church in Bottineau.
ADVERTISEMENT
Reach Ingersoll at (701) 780-1269; (800) 477-6572, ext. 269; or send e-mail to aingersoll@gfherald.com .
