GEYSER — The Guinness Book of World Records for the most years driving a school bus is held by Carl Fisher, who drove school bus for 66 consecutive years in Pleasant Oak, Missouri.
Geyser School Bus Driver John Riley has been getting children safety to and from school-sponsored events for 57 years.
In Montana, Geyser Public School bus driver John Riley, who has been driving a school bus for Geyser for 57 years non-stop, is around nine years away from topping this Guinness Record.
Riley began driving bus for the Geyser school in 1967 when he was 21 years old and hasn’t stopped since. He is 80 years old and going strong.
“He also ranched for years, was a hay hauler, cattle hauler, custom combiner. Pretty much anything that has to do with cattle and agriculture,” said Wayne Anderson of Geyser.
After graduating from Geyser High School, Riley spent three years in the Air Force, Anderson said.
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“He came back, took on his dad’s ranch north of Geyser and has been driving school bus ever since,” said Anderson.
Whether Riley’s 57 consecutive years driving school bus is a Montana record is difficult to know.
“That’s incredible,” said Donell Rosenthal, state director of Pupil Transportation with the Office of Public Instruction. “Unfortunately we do not keep information on how long a driver has been driving a school bus, and I do not know how you could find that information. We just don’t keep that kind of information. Again, that is amazing to be driving that long.”
Riley’s friend Anderson tipped the Judith Basin Press onto the story idea.
“If [John Riley] doesn’t have the record in Montana for years driving bus, then he’d be darn close,” said Anderson.
Anderson is in the process of moving from Geyser to Tyler, Texas. His family on his dad side also ranched North of Geyer, like Riley. Anderson, when in high school, even himself had Riley as a bus driver in 1967.
“John is a patient bus driver,” he said.
In addition to Riley’s routes to and from school, he drives the girls and boys basketball teams, volleyball team and has been getting football players to practice in Denton.
“He’s very reliable,” Geyser School clerk Jayme Simonis said. “It’s nice to have somebody on our staff who is always willing to fill in and help. It’s also great that he is up for the field trips when the students go swimming, or ski days, concerts, pep assemblies. It’s a great think to recognize him for his years driving bus.”
May Hill, another bus driver in Stanford, said of Riley: “He’s a great sport and easy to coordinate with, plus he will take on the long trips and all routes.”
Geyser’s Ken Annala has been driving a bus for 25 years. Annala, just this year, gets to drive his grandson Carter Annala to school.
Over the years, Riley has driven several of his grandchildren to their sporting events and watch them play. His granddaughters Kaitaia and Mautauri Vincent are in high school sports.
Riley has also watched other grandchildren, including Cassidy, Kiera and Taylor Randal, and Kane and Kenneth Vincent before they graduated. Kaitaia is a senior, and Matauri is a sophomore.
When driving 16-plus individuals, including the driver, a school bus driver must have a CDL as well as specific endorsements (i.e., school bus endorsement, passenger endorsement, air-brake endorsement). This allows the driver to use the big activity vehicles, explained Simonis.
All bus drivers must be trained and certified in first aid and CPR, complete 15 hours of training yearly and have a physical health exam every year or two, said Simonis.
