Tillsonburg woman receives international award

Jen Dean was the first Canadian to receive the Town Woman of the Year award from the Women of the Towing and Recovery Association of America. She previously won the Hero of the Industry Award from the Professional Tow Association of Ontario. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

A Tillsonburg woman made history in several ways when she received an international towing award.

Jen Dean was presented with the Tow Woman of the Year award from the Women of the Towing and Recovery Association of America (WTRAA) at its gathering in April. She was not only the first Canadian to win the award but the first international winner. At 29, when she received the award, she believes she may also be the youngest. Dean works in the family business Advanced Towing with her father, Mike, mother, Rosemary, and sisters, Melissa, Amanda, and Lisa.

The story of how Dean became a member of WTRAA is an interesting one. In 2023, she received the Hero of the Industry Award from the Professional Tow Association of Ontario. This occurred after 10 different customers sent in nominations. She doesn’t know who all the nominators were for that award but does know of two. In one instance, Dean, who has first aid as an OPP auxiliary member, former firefighter, and combat engineer with the Canadian Armed Forces reserves, provided first aid until an air ambulance arrived at a gentleman who was in a car versus transport collision in front of the Advanced Towing location on Highway 19. In the other case, she provided first aid to a woman who had suffered a stroke at the Tillsonburg fishing derby where Dean was volunteering.

“They said if she was 10 minutes longer getting to London to the stroke clinic she would have passed away,” Dean said.

Stories written about that award appeared in industry magazines Tow Canada and the American publication Tow Times. Officials from WTRAA saw the article, then reached out to Dean and invited her to join their group. Dean was the youngest to win the Hero of the Industry award, and the first woman.

She and her mother attended the Towing and Recovery Association of America show in Florida last year. They were planning to attend this year, and the only thing slightly out of the ordinary is one of the WTRAA officials asked Rosemary if they were planning on attending.

They were at the show on April 19 and went to a women in towing luncheon. During the luncheon, the commentator began discussing the award winner.

“We were sitting there and I thought are they talking about me,” Dean recalled of what was going through her head. “I didn’t have a clue.”

Also a Kinette member and a member of the Tillsonburg Fair Board, Dean believes that her volunteering helped her win the award.

“For me it’s second nature to give back to the community,” she said. “For them it stood out. It was multiple things, and not just one thing.”

She also took the Wreckmaster course in the United States, and completed it despite breaking her hand two days earlier. The instructor later approached her and gave her a Wreckmaster Rotator pin, of which there are only 200 in existence.

“He was so impressed I was getting in there and doing it with a broken hand,” Dean said. “He was impressed with my work ethic.”

Information on Dean will be part of the permanent display honouring Tow Woman of the Year recipients in the Towing Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.