Truman, Minnesota — It’s a big decision to consider what to put on one’s gravestone. But for Cheryl Barickman, who is still alive, the question was never raised.
“There’s a school bus on my tombstone,” Cheryl says. “I guess it’s always been a big part of my life.”
Cheryl’s journey as a bus driver began early.
At 23, she became Truman’s only female bus driver. Even at the age of 80, she continues to drive bus #5.
“Good morning,” Cheryl says, smiling as the kids board at the end of their rural driveway.
“I’m the first one they see after they leave their house in the morning, and I think they should see someone that has a positive attitude and has a smile on their face and says good morning to them,” Cheryl tells me.
When Ron Lenz purchased the Truman bus service, Cheryl “came with the deal.”
Ron says 41 years later, “Cheryl’s been with me the entire time. “She’s loved by everyone.”
Having Cheryl behind the wheel of your bus is similar to having a grandmother on board.
Except, says fifth-grade passenger Alaina Klassen, “My grandma’s younger.”
One cannot drive a large bus on the prairie for 57 years without encountering wind and snowstorms.
Cheryl has the stories to prove it.
“Little kindergartner was sitting in the front seat beside of me and he said, ‘I’ll roll down the window and look out the side,’ he said, ‘and if I see the edge, I’ll tell you that you’re too close to the edge.'” Cheryl laughs while recounting the story.
It’s the laugh of a woman who finds happiness in children.
“She loves kids,” Cheryl’s daughter, Heidi Voyles, says. “She was a 4-H leader and Sunday school teacher. “Everything she does is for the children.”
Cheryl’s love for children goes beyond her driving duties.
“I pray before I get on the bus that I have a safe journey with the bus and that in some way I bless these children’s lives,” according to her.
Since the death of her husband, Keith, Cheryl has relied on the children for therapy.
“He died on January 1st of ’22,” Cheryl says. Cheryl’s wedding ring remains on her finger while she fills her bus with diesel.
Keith’s grave in the cemetery is engraved with the tractor that the farmer chose before his death. At the same time, Cheryl chose the school bus, which was already carved in stone above her name.
“You can put anything you want and that’s what I chose,” she tells me. “Even in death,” Cheryl will be remembered as a school bus driver.
Frankly, that’s where we expected the story to end, until Cheryl returns to the bus garage and is surprised to see more cars than buses.
“Usually this lot is empty,” a perplexed Cheryl remarks. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
When a television station comes to a small town, word spreads.
“I pretty much just sent out a text,” Cheryl’s daughter says.
That was all it took.
“Hey!” Cheryl exclaims as she opens the door to a bus bay and discovers it brimming with people. “What’s happening in here?”
Cheryl’s fellow drivers, family, and former passengers all greeted her.
“Carter!” Cheryl shouts as she embraces Carter Gieseke, whose father, Peter Gieseke, stands nearby.
Cheryl was accompanied to school by both her father and son.
“I was on the bus 54 years ago,” Peter recalls.
“And I was on the bus two years ago,” Carter explains.
When his son began school, Peter recalls thinking, “Oh, she’s still driving?” The father and son laugh as they think about it.
Cheryl’s grandson, Alex Voyles, also has stories.
“She was at every sporting event,” the former three-sport athlete recalls. “She never saw the end of games because she had to get the bus warmed up.”
Cheryl is surprised again when the group presents her with a decorated cake to commemorate her 57 years behind the wheel.
The combination of confection and affection causes the bus driver to need wipers. Instead, she dabbed her eyes with a napkin.
“This is surprising,” Cheryl exclaims, her voice cracking. “I guess I didn’t think I was that special.”
Busloads of Truman residents would disagree.
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