Happy Birthday

Today would have been my grandmother's 94th birthday, or would have been 95th? Well, no matter.

My grandmother, Agnes Irene "Pat" Hewitt Brown Rinehard, was a remarkable woman. Even now people are amazed at the things that she did. If it had wheels, my grandmother drove it. Trolley, truck, bus, tram, train, fire truck-front & back end, car, pick-up, hmmm, what else is there?

She was the first female bus driver the City of Syracuse, NY hired, and, in my opinion, the most popular. She and her husband were a husband and wife OTR truck driving team, I believe that they had to have been one of the first. She worked in almost every industry there is. She also cooked for tourists out of a boxcar at a little place called Rail City. I am pretty sure she liked working with people, but I think bus driving was her most favorite. She was able to be with people and feel the freedom of the road at the same time.

Even after she could no longer drive, because of a broken hip suffered in a car accident (no she wasn't hit by a bus) she still worked for the bus company and (I believe) was instrumental in the start-up of the Call-a-Bus program for elderly and infirm.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!