“He had about 10 years into the restoration and he was diagnosed with lung cancer,” said son Jason Gielow.

Denny Gielow — whose license plate read ROD FATHER— was well known in the area for restoring and hot-rodding vintage cars as well as coaching hockey in Wheatfield and serving as northeast representative of the GoodGuys Rod & Custom Assoc.

Growing up in the area, he stormed the roads in a yellow ’62 Chevy called “The Hairy Canary” that was impossible to forget.

“We’ve always had classic cars in the family,” said Jason Gielow.

Many of Jason’s earliest memories center on bouncing around [...]