Bus drivers play a large part in our communities, and after one particularly devoted bus driver passed away earlier this week, his town wanted to honor his life.
School bus drivers are a vital part of every community.
For Grand Meadow, Minnesota, Glen Davis was a face that nearly everyone in the town of around 1,170 both knew and trusted. Davis had been driving children to and from school for more than half a century.
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In fact, Davis had been a bus driver for 55 years!
From 1949 to 2005, Davis loved his job as a school bus driver, and in all of that time, he never got in a single accident. Now that is one hell of an impressive statistic!
So, when it came to the tragic event of Davis’ death, there was only one way for him to be laid to rest.
Davis was given a school-bus yellow casket by the funeral home.
Davis’ wonderfully thoughtful casket was painted yellow and fitted with black hinges. The number on the side reads “3,” which was the same number as the first bus that Davis drove all the way back in 1949.
Davis actually got to see the casket before his death.
Davis was gifted the casket five years before his death by the owner of the local funeral home, Jim Hindt. Hindt had given Davis the casket after Davis had supported Hindt’s family upon the discovery that their 18-month-old daughter had cancer.
“Oh, good gosh, I cried a few times,” Davis told The Post Bulletin about the moment he received the casket back in 2015.
There has been an outpouring of condolences for the late bus driver.
People across the internet joined in expressing their love for Davis’ community spirit and the wonderful send-off he received:
“That’s a nice tribute, my Mom was also a School Bus driver and loved her job with the kids. Takes a special person to care for these kids. May he RIP.”
“[What] a wonderful way to honor such a dedicated man.”
“Such a special man I’m sure the whole community will miss him.”
Davis’ daughter initially found the gift somewhat morbid.
Davis’ daughter, Lisa, was initially trepidatious over the gift back in 2015. However, when she realized the joy that it brought her father her spirits were lifted.
Lisa also explained how much her father loved his town:
“He was probably Grand Meadow’s biggest promoter […] He never met a stranger. He would’ve met you and thought he knew you from somewhere,” she told CNN .
Davis is not the only bus driver to have this honor.
Last year, David Wright from Tennessee was buried in a similarly styled coffin after spending nearly 50 years driving a yellow school bus.
David’s son, Calvin, told CNN why he chose to give his father this send-off:
“Besides the grandkids, that’s something he loved more than anything, being behind the wheel of that bus.”
Hopefully, we can all get a send-off as personal as this when the time comes.
Sure, it may be quite morbid to think of our own death, but everyone has to go sometime. So, surely we can only hope to have as personal and thoughtful a send-off as this.
h/t: CNN
