Jack Richards, who lives in Bearspaw with his wife, Patricia, is a big name in the area.
His Cochrane legacy is Big Hill Towing and he has left it in his daughter, Jackie Richards’, hands.
Jack’s journey all started when he was driving tow trucks for his dad, Red Richards, at the age of 17. The company was called Red’s Towing, operating in the 1940s and 1950s in Calgary.
Jack chose the electrical trade as his career and worked his way up the ladder to corporate leadership at Westburne Electric, employed by them for two decades.
The towing business was in his blood, probably inherited from his father.
So in 1988, he decided to purchase Buster’s Towing, which was known for towing semis.
After he bought City Wide Towing in Calgary, he acquired the contract for the Calgary Police Service.
This contract had been dominated by Metro Towing for 15 years. Jack’s powerful negotiating skills acquired at Westburne Electric had certainly paid off for him.
A big parade was held at midnight New Year’s Eve 1990 in the city of Calgary impound lot with the Metro trucks pulling out and the City Wide trucks moving in.
After retiring from Westburne in 1992, he decided to buy Big Hill Towing in Cochrane in May 1995, hiring Mike Zimmerman, a family member as his manager.
As a matter of interest, Big Hill Towing was started in Cochrane in 1977 and has always been a family business. It was previously owned by Marv Laye and then Ed Davis. Their telephone continues to be answered by a ‘person’ - 24/7, defying modern technology and call centres.
In 2003, Jack’s daughter, Jackie, took charge of Big Hill Towing, running the operation in the family tradition. “Dad has given me a free hand. He allows me to do whatever I feel is right here.” said Jackie.
It may seem unusual for a woman to operate a towing business, but there’s more… Jackie’s sister, Wendy, and her husband, Rob Voelk, bought City Wide Towing and still have the Calgary Police Service contract today. Jackie and Wendy have a brother, Stephan, living in Saskatoon and another sister, Gabrielle, who lives in Grande Prairie.
