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Before school gets out Larry goes out to warm up the bus. Staff photo Brian Larsen
After 42 years of driving a school bus for Grand Portage kids, Larry (Fish) Deschampe, 68, has seen it all; bus breakdowns, sick kids, sad kids, happy kids, sweet kids, naughty kids, but what happens when a kid really gets out of line?
“Well, kids will be kids,” he said. “But I have a lot of parental backing because I know the parents. So, I talk to the kid and tell them that I was their parent’s school bus driver, and if they don’t straighten out, I will have a conversation with them, and that’s usually all it takes,” he answered with a smile and twinkle in his eye.
So, what compelled you to drive a school bus for all of these years?
“Well, after high school, I worked construction in the summers, but I was laid off in the winter. I worked at the casino some, but I was really looking for a year-round job with union benefits, and as you know, there aren’t many of those around here. I had a goal to take care of my family and was thinking about the future. So, when the school bus driving job opened up, and I found out it was a union job, I took it. It didn’t pay all that well, but they gave me the janitor’s job at the old log schoolhouse along with the bus driving, so I had a year-round job.”
Another great day behind the wheel, another smile. Staff photo Brian Larsen
Larry worked for the I.S.D. 166 school district for 32 years, but he said 166 started making cuts and wanted to close the grade school in Grand Portage and bus the kids to town.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “I didn’t want to drive the bus to Grand Marais, but I was two years shy of being able to retire. And through the Rule of 90, your age plus the number of years you work must reach 90. if you don’t have enough years to reach 90, then you lose your retirement. So, I was really worried that I would lose my retirement, but then the Grand Portage Band built this building and offered to lease it to the district, which they did for a while. Still, two years later, the district wanted to close the grade school, and that’s when the Band put in for a Charter school. That was roughly ten years ago, and I have worked for the charter school ever since.”
Oshki Ogimaag Charter School Executive Director Carmen Keyport was effusive in her praise for Larry.
“Larry is great with the kids, and everyone knows him,” said Keyport. “His work ethic is amazing. He doesn’t take a day off unless he absolutely has to. When he worked as a custodian, he never stopped. He would sweep floors, wash windows, clean up; he was always working. I know he is talking about retiring, but I hope he keeps driving the bus. He knows where all of the kids get dropped off, and if some kid needs to go to his or her grandparent’s house or somebody else’s house, he knows right where that is.
“And, if someone does take over, I think he would always be worried about whether they showed up for work, worried about the kids. So, I hope he keeps driving.”
Take us back to when you first started driving. What was it like?
“Well, as I said, kids will be kids, but back in 1980, school buses had standard transmissions, and there were few rules for drivers to follow. Today, there is an annual training, and the buses are very technical. There are so many more rules and regulations to follow now. I took my bus driver’s exam in a 15-passenger van and just started driving school bus.”
When he reached 62, Larry could have retired. His union pension and Social Security benefits kicked in, and he had enough money to sit back and enjoy his senior years. But “No one wanted to drive the school bus, and I wasn’t going to leave the kids with no bus driver. I really care about the kids and am happy with what I do.”
So, how long have you been called Fish?
He smiled and replied, “I was given the nickname Fish when I was ten years old because I fished all of the time. I could catch fish when no one else could, and I just loved to fish and fish and fish. A lot of people don’t even know my real name. I even have Fish on my license plate.”
During high school, Fish ran track and cross country. In the tenth grade, he was poised to break the school records in cross country. He ran effortlessly, had a beautiful stride, was fast, and his work ethic was second to none. “I worked at the border in the summer, and I would run to work and run back home,” he said. “That was six miles each way, so I got in really good shape. I loved to run, and I put my mind to it to get a varsity letter jacket, and I got one. I still have it, and it’s like brand new. And we got a t-shirt that said we were in the 300-mile club if we ran 300 miles in the summer and I have that too,” he added.
Sadly, in the middle of his sophomore year’s cross country season, Fish was in a motorcycle accident and couldn’t run anymore. It was tough for the team to lose its leader—a kid who ran with a smile and never complained about the tough workouts. Someone undoubtedly headed to set school records. If only…
What will you do with your free time when and if you retire? Will you and the wife go to Florida or Arizona in the winter?
“No, I like living here. I know how to shovel snow, and the cold doesn’t bother me much. Yeah, it gets a little long sometimes, but I like being with my family, being close to my kids and grandkids. I like peace and quiet. I don’t live in the village. I live three miles away in the woods with no neighbors. Once in a while, my wife and I go to Duluth and stay overnight, but that’s about it.”
Do you have any hobbies?
I have three hobbies, fishing, fishing, and fishing, in that order.”
Where do you fish?
“I mostly fish in the Pigeon River for walleyes. I don’t need a fish locator or a depth finder. I know where the fish are and how deep the water is. I only catch what I will eat, no more. I don’t go to Isle Royale. I have fished there, but I don’t have the equipment for it. I have a 12-foot Lund boat and eight-horse Johnson. That’s all I need.”
How long do you think you will drive the school bus?
“If someone comes along and wants the job, I would give it up. But I do love the job. Right now, there are 27 kids on the bus, and it takes about 45 minutes to pick them up and then the same to drop them off. I haven’t done custodian work in a long time so it’s not like I’m working all day and still driving the school bus. I’m not going to abandon the kids, but I do think about retiring at some point.”
At 42 years and counting, Fish is the longest-serving bus driver in memory. However, he isn’t the oldest bust driver, Bill Hackett, 82, is driving a school bus, but he hasn’t been with the school district as long as Larry. But that’s another story. This story is about Fish, a family man who loves his wife Janis, daughter Jennifer (Sorenson) and Katherine (Scherer), love’s his work, and the kids through the years who have been fortunate to have him as their bus driver.
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