Lyn and I attended a birthday party that our grandson, Trevor, put together for his wife, Becca. In the invitation, he upped her age by several years. I was visiting with her grandparents during the party and found out they had both been school bus drivers.
We had an interesting talk about school bus drivers that owned their buses and worked under contract with a school system. I remember talking with Denise Summers a while back, and she remembered her bus driver was named Fred. We were positive that it wasn’t me. Later, we agreed that it was probably Fred Keller.
I knew Fred and his oldest son, Ron. Fred had owned a school bus and an auto repair shop that was behind his house on Mathews Street. Although Ron was a few years older than me, we had several friends in common and we sometimes hung out together.
In the last few days, I was going through some music discs and found a couple of Liza Minnelli recordings. As I was sitting in my car listening to Liza Minelli, I reconnected Ron Keller and Liza.
Many years ago, I was at the State Fairgrounds to attend a Liza Minnelli concert. While I was walking through the lobby area, I heard someone shouting my name. It was Ron Keller. He was in Liza’s band and was traveling with her.
I did some computer research later and found she had a new album coming out and Ron Keller was listed as an orchestra member. I ordered several copies of that CD.
Ron Keller, Bob Graff and I worked at Longacre Pool and Park for a few years. We were the team that kept the men’s locker room up to date concerning the locks and keys for all the lockers. That was how I met Ron first.
We stayed in contact after he retired from his music gigs, and a few years ago, we reconnected when he and his wife were in Indianapolis. We got together for a nice visit. A few years later, I got word on Ron’s passing. I’ve been in contact with his wife, and she is planning a visit to Indianapolis in the near future.
See how talking about school bus driving can carry me back and connect Denise Summers, Fred Keller, Ron Keller, Liza Minelli, and the family I was having dinner with during the birthday party.
Some memories are meant to be enjoyed and shared.
Happy Birthday, Becca!
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. He can be reached through email at [email protected].