NORTH ROBINSON – Roger Haas is a pro at hauling precious cargo.

Haas, the beloved school bus driver for the Colonel Crawford Local Schools, will be back at the wheel Wednesday transporting students to Pioneer Career & Technology Center in Shelby and, on August 23, the first day of school for Colonel Crawford.

Just like he has for nearly 50 years.

“I like to drive, and I enjoy being around the kids,” said Haas, who is assigned to bus number 2 again this year. “I have a lot of fun with the kids. I haul my neighbor kids, and two of them came over the other day because they wanted to see me.”

Haas, 74, is a mainstay on the morning and afternoon routes through the district, which includes three Bucyrus subdivisions. He’s also a regular driver on Friday and Saturday nights – “if ya call it work” – taking football and basketball teams to their away games.

In fact, Haas has now taken three generations of students to and from school. One of them is currently his boss, Colonel Crawford Superintendent Todd Martin, who rode with Roger back in the 1980s when he played high school basketball for the Eagles.

“He’s still a good one,” said Martin, whose late mother, Clara McCallister Martin, graduated with Haas in the Class of ’64. “He knows every kid by name. He greets them when they get on the bus, and he greets them when they get off the bus.
He’s got a big heart.”

Haas was destined to drive.

His father, Lloyd Haas, racked up 20 years of driving, first for contractors and then for the district, while running the family dairy farm in Galion. Roger said he always had to finish milking chores in the morning so his dad could report to work.

When the elder Haas retired in the spring of 1973, Roger had already driven a truck for a company in Tiro and was a substitute bus driver for the district. “They needed a driver, so I talked to Glen Cole, the superintendent at the time, and everything just kinda’ fell into place.”

Haas took over his father’s K-12 route that Fall, which wound through the village of Leesville and the east side of North Robinson. His wife, Dorothy, also jumped on the bus bandwagon and had a double kindergarten route for 28 years before finally retiring in 2005. Son John Haas of Rifle, Colorado, is a substitute school bus driver there.

Haas served in the U.S. Army for two years and got a job at Ohio Power when he returned from the service.
He also worked the night shift at PPG, retiring in 2009. Two years ago, he was proud to join other veterans on the “Honor Flight” trip to Washington, D.C.

Haas doesn’t sit still.

He also works at the Lutz Family Farm in Bucyrus, cutting wheat and doing other farm chores. “I like climbing up on a tractor or a combine. I’m gonna do it as long as I can do it. I don’t like sitting around watching T.V. I like to go.”

So far, he’s logged more than a million miles driving a school bus. And although he officially retired in 2015, he automatically signs up to “rehire” each year because this dedicated driver won’t be taking a back seat when the school bell rings.

“I did tell them this spring that I would probably retire in five years when I turn 80,” said Haas, whose birthday is September 11. “I feel when I get to that point, I’ll know when it’s time to quit, and maybe I’ll be 85 when it’s time to hang it up. I don’t know.”