Bus driver retires after 51 years
Colleagues cheer as Jim Allebach takes the final ride of a long career
After half a century of driving a school bus for the North Penn School District, one final surprise awaited Jim Allebach when he returned from his route Thursday morning.
As he pulled his bus from Snyder Road into the district bus garage behind North Penn High School, dozens of fellow bus drivers honked their horns, cheered, and screamed, “We love you, Jim!” as Allebach parked his bus for the final time.
“I can’t believe it. There’s no words to describe what’s happening,” he said.
Allebach’s Thursday morning started with a trip to pick up students heading to Penndale Middle School around 7 a.m., and then a second run to
pick up elementary school kids heading to Gwynedd Square Elementary.
Wearing his trademark Phillies cap and a sweatshirt custom made by his coworkers that read “North Penn Transportation: 51 years of service,” Allebach checked his watch every few minutes as he browsed through a photo album he has kept for years at the transportation office, showing various friends and their families (including some current district staff as students), behind a cover page that reads “Jim Allebach, 1966 — ??”
Before leaving, fellow driver and routing specialist Diana Blastic sent him off with a hug, and said she and Allebach shared the same route for several years, and she has learned from him “to have patience, and to pick your battles.”
“I feel like a part in a bicycle — I’m just one of the spokes that makes it go round. I was blessed,” he said.
Allebach started driving for the North Penn School District in September
1966, when he was looking for a second job he could fit with running a mobile home community his family owned in Hatfield. As he drove from the high school, down Valley Forge Road to Sumneytown Pike, then down Broad Street to Garfield Avenue, Allebach reflected on how he’s seen the area change over half a century behind the wheel.
“It was all farmland, and now it’s all developed. And I think it’s for the good, that they developed it,” he said.
Driving past huge Merck buildings on Broad Street, Allebach remembered when the land they now occupy was vacant. While there was less traffic on the roads, the roads themselves were narrower, and the bus he drove had no automatic steering or transmission and could hardly turn onto some of the smaller streets in the area.
The newer school buses are “wonderful, so much better. The older ones, nothing
was automatic: we used stick shifts, and the turning radius was not good,” he said, as he deftly turned from West Point Pike onto an alley barely wider than his bus.
At his final first stop, Gavin Ziring of Garfield Avenue handed Allebach a farewell card as he boarded the bus, and said he enjoyed spending every morning, especially his 8th birthday on Thursday, with his friends and with Allebach.
“It said ‘Enjoy your retirement,’ because this is his last day. I didn’t go on the bus that much, I’m only in second grade, but he’s nice, he’s caring, he’s my favorite bus driver,” said Ziring.
As he navigated his bus through the back streets of Upper Gwynedd, Allebach recalled specifics of each spot: where the former West Point Elementary had been located before the property was taken over by Merck, a corner where he warned police of tree branches blocking his view and they were trimmed the next day, and which kids boarding his bus were Pittsburgh Penguins fans.
All along the way, parents wished Allebach well in his retirement, and Roselyn Emmanuel took a photo of Allebach with her son Nitish
Gadde as Gadde, a fifth grader at Gwynedd Square, got on.
“He’s always nice to me and everyone. He’s so kind, he gives us gifts at the end of the year,” Gadde said.
As Allebach dropped his students off at Gwynedd Square, school Principal Bill Bowen said Allebach was a model that other drivers would do well to emulate.
“He’s one of the most dependable drivers. I’ve never had to deal with any issues off his bus, because he keeps them under control,” Bowen said.
“He’s always on time, always very courteous, very polite, an excellent driver. He’s one of those rare gems that blends making sure he’s safe, with making sure he takes care of the children. It’s wonderful to have drivers like him, and he’s something special having done it for so long,” Bowen said.
After leaving Gwynedd Square, Allebach said his favorite part of the job was watching kids he picked up in elementary school grow into young adults, and recalled
the time he saw bus drivers stuck on Sumneytown Pike during a sudden snowstorm that had to be pulled out by a local farmer. Over the years, he estimates he has driven somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million miles, and taken roughly 500,000 students to and from school, each morning for half a century.
“I was blessed to have the talent of driving automobiles. Whatever automobile had a key, I could drive, and that’s what I enjoy,” he said, hinting that his restored ‘57 Chevy and other antique cars may take up more of his free time, starting Friday.
When he turned off Valley Forge Road into the high school’s driveways for the final time, and as he maneuvered his yellow bus number 124 through the high school’s driveways toward the bus garage, Allebach grew worried when he saw two lanes of buses parked on either side of the driveway.
“This is for you, Jim,” said Director of Transportation Chris Grey, as Allebach pulled past the lanes of buses into the transportation center, where hundreds of his colleagues were standing in front of their buses, flashing their red and yellow safety lights, cheering and clapping.
“We love you, Jim! Happy retirement!” they cheered.
Allebach circled the transportation building, waving and honking to his colleagues, before parking his bus one last time and stepping into a sea of handshakes and hugs, accompanied by a round of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”
“He always has something kind to say about everybody, always has a smile on his face. He’s gonna be missed, he’s a great guy,” said transportation supervisor Angelo Tornetta.
Tornetta and several other transportation department staff removed the steering wheel from Allebach’s Bus 124 and handed it to him, as other colleagues gave him farewell balloons, his final time card, and a set of fresh photos for his album.
“I don’t think he’s used to all this. He’s a real humble guy,” said bus driver Ed Madge, a neighbor of Allebach in the bus parking lot.
“What did I learn from him? Stay simple — he’s a very simple man, dependable. You can learn a lot from his generation, and he’s also been accident-free for 50 years, so that’s saying something,” Madge said.
Grey said, in addition to the steering wheel and sweatshirt, the district has also given Allebach a gameworn North Penn Knights football jersey with his number 51 and a set of service time pins and patches adding up to 51 years.
Allebach said his only plans for Friday, his first full day of retirement, were to “go out for breakfast at a decent hour,” and he plans to stay in the area. His advice to anyone hoping to have a similarly long career?
“Just be kind to everyone, and you’ll be satisfied,” he said.
“I feel like a part in a bicycle — I’m just one of the spokes that makes it go round. I was blessed.” — Jim Allebach
“He’s always on time, always very courteous, very polite, an excellent driver. He’s one of those rare gems that blends making sure he’s safe, with making sure he takes care of the children. It’s wonderful to have drivers like him, and he’s something special having done it for so long.” — Bill Bowen, Gwynedd Square Elementary School principal