Gina Johns honors late husband’s legacy with a sizable donation to International Towing Museum.
Louisville tow operators Irvin and Gina Johns never needed a boardroom or conference calls to discuss their company’s plans for the future. Their daily commute to the office gave them plenty of time together to talk about their next move.
Married in 2000, the Johns built Suburban Towing into a fleet of more than 100 trucks and 80 employees across two strategic locations on either side of the Ohio River. Gina, as her late husband called her, was the “bean counter,” and Irvin was the visionary. Gina said it was a great partnership.
“We did everything together and worked really well together,” she recalled.
Before his untimely passing in November of 2024, Irvin thought they could expand their operation even further by adding more roadside service trucks to address a common problem he’d notice on their way to work every day: Disabled semis on the side of the road and how their breakdowns impacted the flow of traffic.
“Irvin was so observant about everything,” Gina said. “He’d always be looking at the semi trucks broken down on the side of the road and wondered who was helping them. He’d see other companies pulling up to the scene, and I think he looked at it as an opportunity for our company to start helping them out instead.”
Situated along the Indiana border, Louisville is the heart of northern Kentucky with major interstates, expressways and bridges criss-crossing the metropolitan area like arteries. Plenty of commercial truck traffic circulates through the region, and the Johns knew any breakdown could potentially clog everyone’s commute.
"He wanted to put a service truck together because he felt we could go out on the road and make service calls and try to help customers any way we could,” Gina said. “If there was a need where they couldn't be helped on the roadside, then we could tow them to the nearest dealership or back to their home shop. Basically take it wherever it needs to go.
“Irvin looked out for every opportunity that he could to try and wanted to get every tow within the city of Louisville,” Gina continued. “He was a very competitive guy, and we didn't get to where we were without that drive and that competition in him. He didn't want to miss that opportunity of trying to get that tow.”
By late 2023, Irvin was ready to put his plan in motion and reached out to Zip’s and service body sales specialist, Kevin McCormick, to build the truck. They decided on a Zip’s Road Service Body (RSB) and set a delivery date of the Baltimore tow show the following fall. Gina said Irvin was very involved in the build process and spec’d the custom RSB out the way he wanted.
“He always wanted the latest and the greatest, and everything had to be the best,” Gina noted. “You can tell that just by looking at the trucks we have in our fleet.”
Unfortunately, Irvin never got to see his new truck cross the finish line as he passed away just seven days before the Baltimore tow show. Zip’s completed the truck on time, and Gina still took delivery of it, tucking it away in their shop instead of putting it into service right away.
“I told the guys to just lock it up in a bay, and I'll figure out what we're going to do with it later," Gina said. “Life for me got busy in a hurry. I was healing from the loss of my husband and dealing with the estate, all at the same time. I was constantly on the phone with attorneys, bankers and accountants. So that new truck just kind of sat there.”
Over the next 18 months, the new RSB did not see much action, and Gina began shopping it around to other companies with very little interest in return. In February of 2026, she decided to sell Suburban Towing to Guardian Fleet Services, and like the others, they were not interested in the RSB either.
“Unfortunately, the service truck wasn't something that fit in line with their business model,” explained Gina, who stayed on as Suburban’s company president. “It was an expense they weren’t willing to take on, and I was left kicking around what I was going to do with this service truck next.”
Last October, she attended the Tennessee Tow Show in Chattanooga and was inspired by the International Towing and Recovery Museum there as well as the Towing Hall of Fame and the Wall of the Fallen, a memorial dedicated to tow operators who died in the line of duty. Her visit left a lasting impression on her.
“That was the first time I was able to be a part of that weekend and to see the people who were involved and who had helped out in our industry,” Gina said. “It was nice to see how they’ve helped the families and how they honored them at that ceremony. It gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of what the museum was all about.”
2026 marks the 40th Anniversary of the museum's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and among the honorees this year is Gina’s late husband, Irvin, posthumously. To support Irvin’s legacy and to help raise money for both the Hall of Fame and the Wall of the Fallen, Gina said she decided to donate the RSB for an auction for that “great cause.”
“I wouldn’t say life has gotten any easier since Irvin’s passing, but it has gotten better,” Gina said. “Irvin’s legacy is so important to me, and he built a great company in Suburban Towing. We both lived for the towing industry, and I just want to give back. I want to help others, and I want to benefit these great organizations. I hope this donation will be a win-win for everyone involved.”
Fully equipped and outfitted, the low-mileage RSB from the Johns family is valued around $230,000. Bidding is currently open and ends with a live auction during the Hall of Fame ceremony in Chattanooga in October. Learn more by visiting the Towing Museum.
