MORRIS COUNTY

Flatbed sendoff for beloved tow-truck operator

William Westhoven
@WWesthoven

Monday morning was the wrong time for anyone in need of a tow truck in Morris County.

Tow trucks and emergency-service vehicles line up behind Par-Troy Funeral Home in Parsippany Monday July 20 for the funeral of beloved former Hanover tow-service operator, Robert Paul “Butch” Hubert, who died on July 14. The trucks joined a funeral procession that include Hubert’s casket on a flat-bed tow truck.

More than 40 towers were parked at Par-Troy Funeral Home to pay respects to one of their own — Robert Paul Hubert, 69, known to all as “Butch” — who died on July 14 at his home in Blackstone, Va.

Hubert moved his business to Virginia in 1998, but the good will for his countless good deeds as a longtime Whippany resident and businessman was honored Monday. At least a dozen police officers, most of them coming from Hanover, joined Hubert’s family and extended family from the Garden State Towing Association for one final ride.

“He was a friend to all,” said Mike Corigliano, who runs his family’s towing service in Parsippany and describes himself as Hubert’s “devoted best friend.” “It didn’t matter who you were or how much money you had. If you needed help, he was there to help you.”

Fire and emergency vehicles from Whippany, Cedar Knolls, Boonton and elsewhere — some new, some of the historic variety — joined the tow-truck caravan, which outgrew the funeral-home lot and began to accumulate along Parsippany Road.

“When I saw in his obituary that family came first, and hunting and fishing were second, I would add, in between, came anybody in need,” said Hanover Police Capt. Shawn Waldron. “He was always there and would put everything aside when someone was in need.”

The casket of Robert Paul “Butch” Hubert is loaded onto a tow truck Monday July 20 at Par-Troy Funeral Home in Parsippany. About 40 tow trucks joined the procession to the cemetary.

Following a memorial service inside the funeral home, Hubert’s U.S. flag-draped casket was lifted onto a flat-bed tow truck, while flowers from the service were piled on another. Traffic in both directions of Parsippany Road was then stopped for several minutes as the trucks pulled out and escorted Hubert to his final resting place at Restland Memorial Park in East Hanover.

Hubert, a Navy veteran, was buried there with full military honors.

According to his obituary, Hubert was born in Orange and grew up in Whippany on a chicken-egg farm. After high school, he joined the the Navy and served with his brother, Bill, on the U.S.S. Sylvania before being honorably discharged on April 19, 1967.

Known as a tireless worker, Hubert owned and operated Butch’s Wrecker Services in Whippany before moving the business to Blackstone, Va. A memorial service took place their last week.

“When Butch left 17 years ago, his heart never left Whippany,” Corigliano said. “All he talked about was coming back to that Christmas party — ‘got to make that Hanover Township Police dinner’ — and he always did. Drove up nonstop, went to the dinner, drove right back. Hanover Township was his first love.”

Hubert was a member of the Garden State Towing Association, the Towing and Recovery Association of America, the Virginia Towing Association, the American Legion Post 155 of Whippany, the VFW in Virginia as well as the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. He was also a Silver Life-Time Member of the Hanover Township PBA Local No. 128.

Hubert was predeceased by his brother, William who died on Jan. 2.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Pat (nee-Gatta) Hubert; his two daughters, Trisha Hubert of Boonton and Jennifer Hubert of Morris Plains; his two sisters, Alice Gregory and her husband, Al of Succasunna and Marilyn Elliott and her husband, Dennis of Ledgewood and his sister-in-law, Jane Hubert of Pittston, Maine. He is also survived by his devoted friends, Mike Corigliano of Boonton and Lee Scott of Blackstone, Va..

In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked make donations in his memory to the Whippany Fire Department, 440 Rt. 10 West, Whippany, NJ 07981; the Cedar Knolls 1st Aid Squad, 82 Ridgedale Ave., Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927; or the Hanover Twp. PBA Local 128, P.O. Box 128, Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.