Students and staff members lined the hallways of Emerson Elementary School on Dec. 17 to bid farewell to a beloved school bus driver.

After 36 years of driving a bus for Seymour Community Schools, Gary Colglazier, 67, has retired and traded in his bus keys for the keys of a fifth wheel camper.

“I started out as a sub bus driver in 1985,” Colglazier said. “I still worked full-time at the store (Dan’s Cycle Sales), I just filled in whenever they needed a sub driver and I drove kids to sports trips and field trips when I had the time.”

Dan’s Cycle Sales in Seymour was co-founded by his parents, Dan and Sandra Colglazier. Gary was 11 years old when he started helping his dad in the shop.

“I was there my whole life and did everything at the shop to mechanic work to chief cook and bottle washer,” he said. “Anything and everything that needed fixed, I fixed it.”

In 2015, Colglazier was hired by Bill Lasater to be a full-time school bus driver for Seymour Community Schools.

Colglazier said he’s driven for all the kids from kindergarten up through high school, but the last six years he’s driven special needs students, and those kids he has become attached to.

“I’ve never had any problems with any of the kids and the special needs kids did fine,” Colglazier said. “But there was one boy that if he would get loose from us, he’d just run and laugh because he thought it was funny and he was fast.”

He said he recalls driving one student who had lost her hearing due to an illness.

“I drove that little gal from the time she started kindergarten over to Columbus Southside Elementary, Columbus Middle School and Columbus East High School until she graduated,” Colglazier said. “She became like an adopted granddaughter and we still keep in touch. I drove her to her prom so she was special to me and turned out to be a pretty good kid and you never forget those.”

He went on to say, the special needs kids are the ones he’ll miss the most and he’s really enjoyed the last six years. The only thing he won’t miss is getting up at 5:30 a.m. in the morning to go to work and he looks forward to retirement and camping with their new fifth wheel ‘toy hauler.’

Colglazier also has been involved with the annual Cars and Guitars event, which was started by his late father.

“We’ve been with Cars and Guitars for about 17 years,” Colglazier said. “We’ve now turned it over to Darrin and Shawna Boas, but we’ll still help out with Cars and Guitars when we’re home.”

Dec. 17 was his last day driving the bus and it was pouring rain, but the staff at Emerson wanted him to come inside the school.

“There’s a video on Facebook and I had no idea they were going to do this,” Colglazier said. “All the kids were lined up in the hallway so I walked down the hall getting hugs and high-fives and it was just unreal.”

He said when he went home later that evening and watched the video, he had a tear in his eye because it really got to him and he wasn’t expecting it.

Colglazier has been married to his wife Carolyn, who he met on a blind date, for 47 years and they have two children, Justin Colglazier and Rebekah Colglazier Calhoun. The Colglaziers have four grandchildren.

Tim Fosbrink, director of transportation for Seymour Community Schools, said the students on Colglazier’s bus needed special attention, because of their disabilities.

“He truly cared for the students he transported and would go the extra mile to meet their needs,” Fosbrink said. “I wish him the best on his retirement.”

Emerson Elementary principal Julie Kelly said Gary Colglazier has been driving one of their buses that provides transportation to students who need a little more assistance arriving and departing from school.

“Over the years he has transported Emerson students, he has taken the time to get to know the students and develop a relationship with the students,” Kelly said. “He knows their names, what makes them laugh and smile and even knows the student’s parents. When he arrived for dismissal he would arrive early so he had time to come in the office and share a greeting and a smile with us.”

LaDonna Murphy was the aide who rode on the bus with Colglazier in the mornings and evenings.

“Tuesday through Friday I ride at noon with Blue Deaton and we pick up preschool children,” Murphy said. “I just know Gary through riding with him the last six years. My husband also drives a bus so he knew him before I started. He is great with the kids, and we are all going to miss him.”

Jenny Ray, a special education instructional aide at Emerson Elementary, also knows Colglazier through work.

“He’s a genuine person and goes above and beyond as a bus driver,” Ray said. “He even offers to help walk them in when we are short handed. He’s been a great asset to our program.”

She said even though she is sad to see him go, she’s grateful he will be having some well earned down time and looks forward to his future Facebook posts.

Gracie Lewis works as a special education teacher at Emerson Elementary in the SOAR program.

“It is a special education program designed specifically for elementary students with autism. I have worked in this position for the last two years and Gary has been the bus driver for my students during this time,” Lewis said. “He is incredible. While most of my students are nonverbal, he always treated them like he would have any other student.”

She said every single day Gary told them good morning, wished them a good day at school and asked how their day was at the end of the day.

“This is so important to me as a special education teacher. All his job required him to do was drive a bus,” she said. “He didn’t have to go the extra mile to form relationships with my students and treat them with respect, but he absolutely chose to.”

Lewis said you could tell he genuinely loved the kids and her students loved him. If any of them stopped by his seat for a quick hug before school, he always accepted it.

“The SOAR program will definitely miss him. He was a great person for my students to get to spend time with every morning and afternoon before and after school, and I know they will miss him dearly,” she said. “We wish Gary all the best in his retirement and we hope he knows how much of an impact he had on our students, as well as how many smiles he brought to us staff. No one will ever replace him.”