Paisley-area man retires after 63 years driving school bus

After 63 years of driving a school bus, Wilson Gregg is hanging up his keys.

And through all those years of driving, he says the snowstorms were the worst.

 

“We had some real dandies in the 1970s,” says the Paisley-area resident. “They were pretty challenging. I remember one storm moved in around noon. The children were already at school, and my bus was in Paisley. I headed in to pick it up but didn't make it and ended up in the ditch.

 

“I went to the neighbour's place for a few hours. I remember it was four or five days before we could get all the kids home from Paisley; at the end, we were using snowmobiles to get them back home.

 

“I remember another bad snowstorm, and the snow was blowing over the snowbanks and across the road. You couldn't see anything. Up ahead about 500 feet, I could see a cut in the bank, so I edged up near it, and suddenly, my driver's side mirror scraped up against the snowbank. I was on the wrong side of the road!”

 

Born Jan. 20, 1936, in Walkerton, Wilson is the son of George and Jennie Gregg who lived on a farm near Paisley.

 

His career as a school bus driver began when he was 18 years old. In September, 1954, his father accepted a contract with the local school board to operate a feeder run which would meet the high school bus, transporting students to Walkerton District High School.
 

George purchased a 1953 Dodge car at the local Dodge dealership in Paisley, owned by Bill Tanner. For the first two years, Wilson attended high school in Walkerton, while driving the car on the feeder run to meet the high school bus.

 

He then took a job working for a local farmer who operated a large chicken barn, and he continued to drive the feeder car to meet the bus in the morning, and again in the late afternoon.

 

 

In 1959, he purchased his own farm across the road from his family's farm and started a mixed farming operation.

 

Two years later, cars transporting school children were required to have a large sign attached to the top of the vehicle stating “School Bus” painted chrome yellow with large black lettering. Wilson remembers making his own sign.
 

In 1962, because there were more children to transport, he purchased a 1959 Ford Station wagon.


 

Four years later, things were changing, rural public schools were closing and central public schools were being built.

 

Wilson and his brother, Allen, purchased two new school buses, a 48-passenger and a 54-passenger. They were Dodge buses purchased though the local Dodge dealership in Paisley, owned by Jim Rankin. These buses were built in Windsor where they had to go to pick them up.

 

That September, Wilson and Allen began by busing the public school children from Greenock Township to Paisley’s old school and the Anglican Church, until the new central school in Paisley was ready, a few months later.

 

In 1969, Lawrence, a third Gregg brother, joined the business which became known as Gregg Bros. Buses of Paisley. At this time, they purchased two routes and two buses from two local operators and transported students to schools in Chesley.

 

Three years later, Gregg Bros. purchased two high school routes and two buses, taking students to Walkerton District High School. In 1975, they purchased a new Dodge bus to operate a new route they acquired, which started in Glammis and travelled to Walkerton High School.

 

In 1978, they purchased another route from a local operator in Glammis, which also travelled to Walkerton High School. Their fleet of school buses grew to 10 plus a station wagon.

 

In 1973 Gregg Bros. purchased property on Victoria Street in Paisley and put up a new building which consisted of a large work-and-repair shop with a car-truck coin-operated wash bay attached. They continued to update and buy new buses as the years progressed.

 

A charter licence was obtained, and they bused many local hockey teams in the winter and chartered various other groups. A weekly bingo bus travelled to Sauble Beach.

 

The Gregg brothers were kept very busy.

 

All three brothers, as well as their wives and their sister, drove regular school bus routes. The drivers included: Wilson and Beth Gregg, Allen and Marilyn Gregg, Lawrence and Mary Gregg, and Anne Rowley.

 

They had to keep one cool head in command and that was the oldest brother, Wilson, who wrote the paycheques and paid the bills.

 

Wilson managed Gregg Bros. Buses until it was sold in 1999 to Ross Young Bus Lines of Tiverton.
 

But Wilson continued to drive a school bus.

 

Ross Young Bus Lines valued his dedication, experience, and safety-conscious driving. Over his 63-year career, Wilson was not involved in one, single accident.

 

Wilson and Beth were married in 1963 and they have two sons and two daughters: Todd, Marty, Kerry and Nancy, as well as 11 grandchildren..

 

The Gregg family has raised and shown Clydesdale horses for many years. This interest started with their father and continued with Wilson and Allen, and now their sons, Todd and Marty, and Steve and Barry. The next generation also shows a keen interest in the Clydesdale horses. The Greggs' Clydesdales have been shown throughout Canada and the United States.

 

Wilson is a keen curler in the winter months. He is an active member of the Paisley Rotary Club and the Paisley Agricultural Society. He has served on several committees as treasurer and as a trustee of Pinkerton United Church where he is a member.

 

In June, 2004, the National Transportation Association presented Wilson with the Colonel Robert Hardie award of Lifetime Achievement in recognition of a lifetime of service to the transportation industry and commitment to workplace excellence, for driving a school bus for 50 years.

 

Wilson also received a framed certificate on behalf of the Government of Ontario and premier Dalton McGuinty, recognizing this achievement.

 

Now at the age of 80, Wilson says it's time to retire. He has downgraded his driver's licence and can no longer drive a school bus.

 

“When we started in the 1950s, all you had to have was a chauffeur's licence to drive a school bus, and eventually that became a 'B' grade licence,” he says.

 

So, what will he miss, after 63 years of driving?

 

“I'm going to miss going out in the mornings for coffee with the other bus drivers,” says Wilson. “What I won't miss is having to be back in the afternoon at 3 p.m., to do the bus run!”

 

What he and Beth are looking forward to, is a trip to Alberta at the end of June, where their granddaughter is working for the summer, for Troy Dorchester who runs chuckwagon races at area rodeos.

 

Before they leave, however, Wilson will be honoured at a Come and Go Social, Wednesday, June 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Paisley Central Public School – everyone is invited to come and celebrate!
 

Everyone at Ross Young Bus Lines will miss seeing Wilson driving a school bus every day.

 

“We are losing an employee but not a friend - our friendship stays forever,” says Kathleen Young. “Wilson, you have been an inspiration to all of us, and we wish you a Happy Retirement and all the best in the future!”