Beloved bus driver remembered
As she manned the wheel she loved to sing along to the oldies on Magic radio, irrespective of whether she knew the lyrics or not.
It brought a smile to the faces of the students and commuters who rode with her, revealing a warmth and kindness her widower knew only too well – and clings to still.
June Eynon, 63, was killed when the bus she was driving struck the rear of amoving train at a crossing near Bunnythorpe, 12 kilometres north of Palmerston North, last Wednesday. Forty passengers were aboard, many of them Feilding High School students, and all avoided serious injury.
The collision seems inexplicable. The lights were flashing and the bells ringing at the intersection of Railway Rd and Clevely Line. Eynon was an experienced driver, who had driven the route between Palmerston North and Feilding for four years.
However it occurred, Henare Eynon believed his wife would have done everything she could to protect her passengers.
She loved the school children and treated them like her own, and they loved her in return.
Sun strike was the only explanation for the crash he or June’s sister Ronda Gibson could settle on, but their thoughts were better served remembering her smile or the way she could cheer people up.
Henare and June’s was a relationship built on fun and trust. They played, and won, canasta tournaments – a card game – and he would help pick out her next hair dye colour.
Compliments about June’s purple hair would warrant a correction from Henare. It was dark amethyst, not purple.
The couple courted each other for 17 years before Henare asked her to marry him in 2003.
He remembers June flying towards him, asking if hewas going to change his mind. Not a chance. They were soulmates, he said.
They built their lives around each other, moving to Feilding, joining the Salvation Army and working in aged care.
They decided to both obtain truck driver licences, but during a driving lesson June’s instructor commented on her social skills and encouraged her to put them to good use behind thewheel of a bus. The instructor could ‘‘feel it in her’’, Henare said, her sunny attitude and warmth towards others had shone through.
As a young woman, June grew up in Whanganui before moving to Marton. She had been married and had two sonswhen shemet Henare. Henare had two sons of his own, and they worked to create a home for their blended family.
They didn’t have any children together, but June acted as a mother figure for anyone who needed one, passengers included, Henare said. ‘‘She used to boast about it, saying ‘we can’t have kids together, but we can have great times trying’.’’
Her pet dog Dooke and cat Gloves move through their home now, searching for their mum.
Gloves sniffs about June’s coffin, looking for comfort. June was the only one who held him right, Henare said.
Her wha¯nau welcomed anyone who knew her to attend her funeral service at Feilding’s Salvation Army at 1.30pm today.
The police serious crash unit, Uzabus and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission are investigating the cause of the crash.