Bus driver’s dream finally comes true
Chino Valley man drove accident-free for decades
Something caught Joe Edmund Lee’s eye when he was watching TV five years ago: A school bus driver in another state was being recognized for driving 16 years accident-free.
It was a good record, Lee thought, but it wouldn’t beat his own.
Lee, after all, had driven millions of miles accident-free during a more than 30-year career as a school bus driver in Grand Canyon.
That day sparked Lee’s dream to be featured in The Arizona Republic in recognition of his impeccable driving skills.
“He’d always say to me, ‘Mijita, you need to get ahold of The Arizona Republic so they can do an article on me because I’ve driven many, many miles,’ ” said his daughter, Judy Lee-Walker. “I said, ‘ Daddy, I will, I will.’ ”
But she said she procrastinated, and Lee died in April at the age of 92.
But his dream didn’t.
This, after so many story:
years,
is Lee’s
More than 2 million miles logged
Lee was described by his loved ones as a dedicated family man with an incredible work ethic. He — along with his wife, Fidencia “Fidie” Lee, and their children — moved to Grand Canyon Village in the late 1950s to work at a small school located in the heart of the community.
His workdays began in the early morning hours as the sky was still dark and ended long after the sun disappeared. He spent thousands of hours at the school repairing whatever was broken and cleaning classrooms. He even picked up side gigs cleaning businesses around the community.
But what he was most proud of was the millions of miles he safely drove students to and from school, sporting events across the state and the occasional field trip.
Driving to and from Grand Canyon wasn’t a small feat. The nearest school was 60 miles away and road conditions weren’t the best. Lee often traveled those long distances alone as the
school’s lone bus driver even when the buses were faulty or the weather turbulent.
Dan Lopez, who graduated from Grand Canyon before returning years later as the head basketball coach, recalled a time during his senior year when he helped Lee as he drove through a snow blizzard. The team was on its way back to Grand Canyon after a weekend of basketball games in northern Arizona. The furthest was in the far northern Arizona town of Fredonia, which is about four hours one way.
The driver’s side windshield wiper stopped working after it froze to the window, Lopez recalled. Lee turned up the heat to help melt the falling snow and Lopez did what he could to assist.
“I had a towel so I would have to clean the windshield when it fogged, then we would drive five or six minutes and then I’d clean it again ... It was the longest trip, I could’ve got to L.A. faster.”
During a June 1984 high school graduation ceremony along the southern edge of the Grand Canyon, Lee was recognized for 26 years of service to the school, including driving 2 million miles accident-free. The late U.S. Sen. John McCain was a speaker at the graduation ceremony and stood behind Lee as he was given a plaque for his accomplishment.
“He said he felt honored he was there,” Lee-Walker recalled. “He was a registered Democrat, but he always told me he really liked him and if he ever voted Republican it would be for John McCain.”
When Lee retired several years later, he was given another plaque for driving accident-free during the entirety of his more than 30-year career.
‘He was a very special person to a lot of people he encountered’
Today, the village nestled along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park is home to more than 2,000 people.
The Grand Canyon Unified School District has grown significantly to include the K-12 students who live in the village and surrounding areas of Tusayan and Valle. The district had nearly 300 enrolled students during the most recent school year.
But the community was only half the size in Lee’s day. It was tight-knit with neighbors acting like an extension of the family. Lee was often looked to as a father figure outside of his own 13 children.
“Joe was a very special person in my heart and he was a very special person to a lot of people he encountered. There were probably thousands of kids that went through Grand Canyon whose lives he impacted just like he impacted mine,” said Andrew Aldaz, who worked with Lee at the school for several years before he retired.
Aldaz said Lee took him under his wing and even trained him to drive school buses. Aldaz said Lee always came to work with “a great attitude.”
“He told us a new joke every day; everyone always looked forward to it,” Aldaz said.
Lee’s presence at the school commanded respect, Lopez said. Students, including some who would actively avoid other teachers and staff, would make it a point to greet Lee or shake his hand throughout the day.
“He had this family value that he incorporated and lived by taking care of Grand Canyon schools,” Lopez said, growing teary-eyed as he remembered.
‘Joe bled Phantom red and we all looked up to him’
The few students, teachers and parents who never met Lee probably still knew him as the man who cleaned the gym floor. He swept and mopped regularly. Once a year, he would refinish it by himself.
He acted as the keeper of the gym floor, laying down the law for anyone who attempted to cross it with street shoes instead of gym shoes. Lee set the standard for years to come, which is likely why the wood floor remains in mint condition today.
“He was the Godfather of our gym, of our campus,” said Lopez. “When I was in first grade, they put in a new floor and when I left as a senior, our floor looked pretty much the same.”
For Lee, the floor was much more than just a floor and keeping the school clean was much more than just a job. It signaled to rivals the amount of pride the community had in itself.
“We played football in the late winter, it’d be wind howling, wind shear minus five, and who’s out there lining the field? Joe Lee. We would play baseball in the spring, 50 mph winds, dirt blowing all over the place, who’s out there lining the field? Joe Lee,” said Lopez.
“Joe bled Phantom red and we looked up to him,” Lopez continued.
Because of Lee’s dedication to the school, Lopez wants its gym named in his honor. Lee-Walker said the family hopes to pursue that goal once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
One of Lopez’s last memories of Lee was bumping into him at a grocery store about two weeks before he died.
“He said, ‘Coach Lopez, do you have your street shoes on?’ We’re in Safeway and I go, ‘Yes.’ And he just starts laughing and gives me a hug.”
‘It’s about time’
all
Lee and his wife moved to Chino Valley soon after he retired in 1990. They were together for more than 60 years and married about 30 before she died three years ago.
In his final years, Lee began to document his life’s story, much of it focusing on his family, service in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and his career at Grand Canyon. He handwrote a 150-page memoir and then hand-copied several more to give to his children.
About two years ago, Lee asked his granddaughter, April Lee-Reyes, to help him record a video where he talked about his driving record at the school.
“I want you to put it on Facebook and
maybe somebody will see it,” Lee-Reyes recalled her grandpa saying.
“He just loved driving, not just the school bus but family vacations, anything like that,” she continued. “He said he felt empowered behind the wheel of a vehicle.”
Lee continued to drive even at 90. His daughter remembers tagging along with him for a trip to Goldwater Lake. To her surprise, Lee took his 2005 Nissan Altima off-roading, heading deeper and deeper into a forest. They eventually ended up in Mayer 30 miles away.
“My dad never once showed he was afraid,” she said. “He was so comfortable behind the wheel. He was 90, what was I doing with my 90-year-old father in the forest?”
Lee suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in Prescott in April. The doctors believed he wouldn’t make it through the night, said Lee-Walker.
Arrangements were made to allow Lee’s family to say goodbye despite restrictions limiting visitors in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19. He was transferred to a hospice home and given a room with access to an outdoor patio. There, more than a dozen of his family members gathered clad in masks and gloves to speak to Lee once more.
Before he died, one of his daughters heard him mutter one final thing — his nickname for his wife, “Honita.”
“I believe, right before they pass, they see the people that are waiting for them and I believe he saw her,” LeeWalker said.
Lee died on April 29. He was laid to rest next to his late son, Joe “Ray” Raymond Lee, and wife at a cemetery in Grand Canyon. The family hopes to have a celebration of life for Lee once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
When asked what her father would say if he knew he was finally featured in his favorite newspaper, The Republic, Lee-Walker responded:
“It’s about time.”