Deceased bus driver recalled

49-year-old Luis Alvarez was Greyhound driver killed in crash

Longtime passenger remembers 49-year-old Luis Alvarez, who perished in Thursday’s crash

New Mexico State Police identified 49-year-old Luis Alvarez as the Greyhound bus driver who perished along with seven passengers in Thursday’s crash on Interstate 40.

“Tragically, a number of people have lost their lives, including our driver,” Greyhound spokeswoman Crystal Booker said Friday. “Our hearts are with all those affected by this incident.”

Alvarez, from Santa Teresa, had almost 30 years experience as a driver for Greyhound.

Although it’s been 15 years, Elva Martinez remembers Luis Alvarez well.

Martinez said she met Alvarez when she was a Greyhound passenger who rode the bus from Sacramento to San Francisco for school.

Martinez said she would often sit up front and talk with him during the commute.

“He was extremely friendly, very funny,” she said. “He spent a lot of his time on the road, he said it relaxed him to be able to drive and be on the road.”

Martinez said Alvarez “loved his job,” knew many of his passengers by name and often went out of his way for them.

“Even if he was supposed to leave at 10, he wouldn’t mind just waiting a little bit to make sure you got your ticket and on the bus,” she said. “He didn’t want anyone to catch the next bus.”

Martinez said she eventually got a parttime job at Greyhound and would see Alvarez during his layovers in Sacramento.

“He always made the time to, even if he was running late, stop by and say hello,” she said.

Martinez said she heard about the crash, and Alvarez, after a friend posted about it on Facebook.

“I thought, ‘Oh, it can’t be Luis that I knew,’” she said. “It was sad to know that he lost his life that kind of way.”

Martinez said she thinks back on her friendship with Alvarez fondly and won’t forget the last conversation the two had, when she left Greyhound over a decade ago.

“He wished me happiness, he knew I was getting married and he wished me the best,” she said. “I never saw him again.”