For nearly 40 years, generations of students in Eureka USD 389 have climbed aboard a school bus driven by Gladis Tannahill. Whether it was an early morning route, an activity trip after a ball game, a kindergarten run or Tornado services, Tannahill became a familiar and steady presence for countless families.
“Three generations have had the chance to ride the bus,” she said with a smile.
Tannahill’s career behind the wheel spans 38 years (27 years initially, followed by a nineyear retirement before returning for another 11 years). Through snowstorms, gravel roads, activity trips and everyday routes, she built a reputation for being dependable, fair and deeply committed to the students she transported. Now at 88 years of age, Tannahill completed her last route as bus driver on Wednesday of last week.
Her journey into bus driving began almost by accident.
“Wilma Nichols was driving then,” Tannahill recalled. “Her son Richard and I were in the same grade, and they were saying they wanted to hire drivers.”
At the time, buses did not have automatic transmissions.
“I think the reason they hired me was because I grew up driving a stick shift,” she said.
Tannahill started driving routes while also working at The Paddock, a longtime restaurant in Eureka. For 19 years, she worked there before returning to the school each afternoon to drive buses. Over the decades, she worked under several transportation directors, including Ed Boulanger, Larry Hein, Lyn Broyles, Brad Zimmerman, Russell Hewitt and Derek Larcom.
“I was hard on them,” she joked.
Her first route covered the west side of Eureka. At the time, she earned $5 an hour.
“It took about 45 minutes to run it,” she said.
Though she drove nearly every kind of route imaginable, she always preferred the country roads.
“I would rather do the country routes,” she said with a laugh, “except Austin Hill.” The steep hill became one of her least favorite parts of the job, though it never kept her from showing up.
When asked what kept her going through long winters and early mornings, her answer was simple.
“It’s your job. You are dedicated to it. If I didn’t do it, someone would have to do it.”
“You can’t work a job like this, or any job, without loving doing it,” she said. “I love going out and driving and the children always made the work worthwhile.”
Over the years, Tannahill collected enough stories to fill a book.
She recalled getting stuck in a snow drift, running out of gas one block from school because the gauge malfunctioned and stopping traffic so turtles could safely cross the road.
She also laughed while remembering the pranks shared between transportation staff. One former director hid small firecrackers in the broom, knowing she would sweep the bus. After being startled once, Tannahill retaliated by placing a larger firecracker near the office door with a note reading, “This is war.”
Another time, she convinced a transportation director her mirrors needed repaired.
“I asked him, ‘Will you come and fix my mirrors? You must have bumped them,’” she said.
Instead, she had secretly turned on the windshield washer fluid.
“I turned it on and sprayed him,” she laughed.
Though the job had frustrating moments, especially “the kids that get too loud and don’t listen to you,” Tannahill said the relationships made everything worthwhile.
“Friendships have been created,” she said.
One memory that stayed with her involved a student who proudly announced she would no longer ride the bus because she had started driving herself. Not long afterward, the student returned.
“She said, ‘Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. I got smart with Mom and she took the car away from me.’” Tannahill also faced serious challenges during her career. In 2000, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery, missing only three weeks of work. After a superintendent told her she was “sicker than you think,” Tannahill said she felt God asking her a question.
“I heard, ‘Gladis, how do you feel?’ And I said, ‘I feel fine.’ Then the response was, ‘Then act like it.’ Without God’s help I couldn’t have done this.”
In 2006, Tannahill retired and moved to North Carolina to help care for her grandchildren. She stayed away for nine years before returning to Eureka and eventually returning to the driver’s seat.
Known by coworkers as “Momma G,” Tannahill still carries an alarm clock on her routes to help keep her schedule running on time.
“I don’t know how you can drive without one,” she joked.
Although Tannahill will not be serving as a bus driver next fall, she plans to continue helping as a monitor for prekindergarten routes.
Last week, the bus barn staff celebrated her retirement with flowers and a small bag that read: “Retired but always a bus driver at heart.”
