Wednesday, August 24, 2016
I am so sorry to hear about Pete. I had the pleasure of working with him when we both drove school busses for Fiore. He was a great guy, coworker and friend. Back when we worked together Pete did something for me that will always hold a special place in my heart for him. It was summer break and Pete had said that he was going to retire from bus driving. I was going to be starting out the following school year on maternity leave and my route was not going to be available to me when I got back. Hopefully a spot would be there for me, if not then I wouldn't have a job. When the time came for me to return, two weeks after school had started, I went into the office to see if there was a spot for me and Pete was there in the break room. He said 'Hey kid, you ready to come back?". I said yes but there are no runs available so I will have to sub. He turned to our dispatcher and said "I quit" and gave me back the keys to my old bus route. Come to find out he had heard about what they had told me and decided to hold off his retirement until I came back so I wouldn't lose my route. Not only that but he had made a banner that said "It's a Boy" and had hung it up on the bus and all the kids had signed it. I still have it. I often ran into him at Market Basket and we would have nice catch up sessions on what was happening in our lives. He would always tell me about his kids/grandkids and ask me about how my kids were doing and if I was still driving the yellow beast. I am so sorry that I didn't see this notice sooner because I would have liked to have paid my respects to him and his family. But I am so very fortunate to have been able to see him recently at the Jimmy's restaurant in Burlington. He was just finishing up his breakfast and my husband and I had come in and I saw him and went over and gave him a hug and asked him how he was doing. He said "Hey kid, how you doing? How's the bus treating you?", he told me that he was plugging along. I'm happy that the last memory I have of him is one with a smile on his face. RIP Pete!! You will be greatly missed....<3
