Marquette Area Public Schools bus driver Jim Tarsi poses Thursday morning with two of the youngsters on his route, Carly Ogle, left, a Cherry Creek Elementary kindergarten student, and Stella Ketvirtis, a first-grader at the school. “Mr. Jim,” as the families on his route on Ortman Road call him, is retiring today. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Ogle)

MARQUETTE — Jim Tarsi handed a letter to each of the families on his bus route, which brings kids in Chocolay Township to Cherry Creek Elementary School.

He wanted to let them know he had made a tough decision and would be retiring as of today.

Mr. Jim, as he is known by the families on his route, had become a bus driver after retiring from his own business. In his letter, Mr. Jim wrote about making the decision.

“It’s been nine years since I began this venture. I retired from my business a few years earlier, my kids had all left home and I had just turned 70,” he wrote. “Having worked hard all my life, I didn’t have many hobbies, except deer hunting in the winter and riding my motorcycle in the summer.

“What began as a few hours/week sub bus driving, soon grew into a full-time position, seven-plus hours/day,” he wrote. “The more time I spent with the kids, the more I began to love the job, and it soon became a ‘labor of love.’ Who wouldn’t want to spend their day interacting with beautiful, vibrant children?”

The feeling was mutual.

“Mr. Jim has the biggest heart,” said Lauren Ogle, whose daughter Carly is a kindergartner at Cherry Creek. “He loves to talk and to hear about your day and what’s new. He genuinely cares about how the kids (are) and that everything’s OK.

“After Carly’s first week of school, she had told me about how her favorite part about school was the bus ride with Mr. Jim in the morning.”

Deb Fure, who has been MAPS transportation secretary for 27 years and will be the new transportation director for the district starting Monday, commented via email: “Sometimes ‘support staff’ does not get the recognition they deserve. In the case of a bus driver, they are the first school employee the student meets each day and often the last. Some drivers leave the bus garage at 5:30 a.m. and return at 5:30 p.m. (They are done with a.m. runs about 9 and start p.m. runs at 2). They drive through all kinds of weather with sometimes 50 students in the bus behind them.

“Jim Tarsi has been a driver for over nine years and with this particular group for seven years. That is a long time! Drivers can offer another set of eyes and perspective and support to our students as they often meet mom or dad or grandma or the sitter every a.m. So whether it be aides, or secretaries or school custodians, kitchen workers or bus drivers, our support staff at Marquette Area Public Schools deserve a big shout out!”

In his letter to the families, Mr. Jim said he realizes being a bus driver isn’t a job for everyone.

“It takes enormous patience, focus and love for children, with all of those skills being tested on a daily basis. However, the children have always given me more than I could ever give them in terms of ‘zest for life…'”

Tarsi, now 79, said the children help keep him younger, but “… Father Time is telling me my body is not keeping up with my mind, and like an old bus, it’s beginning to need some repair service. Therefore, I have made the heart-wrenching decision to retire from bus driving on Feb. 26.

“Thank all of you for your trusted support in allowing me to drive your beautiful, precious children to and from school all these years,” he wrote. “In my 60 years of working, it has been the greatest and most fulfilling job I have ever had. You will all hold a special place in my heart forever.”

Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 240. Her email address is rprusi@miningjournal.net.