By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

BARRY, Ill. -- When Ronnie Oitker needed a little extra income, he started work in 1957 as a substitute bus driver with the Barry School District.

The next year, Oitker went full time. Fifty-one years later, he will retire Friday as transportation director/bus driver for the Western School District.

Oitker spends up to nine hours a day on a bus, running routes and shuttling students between Barry, Kinderhook and Pittsfield.

"I run 200 miles a day, and I never get farther away than Pittsfield," he said.

He's transported three generations of students -- including his great-grandchildren -- to school, games and other events.

"I always liked to drive," said Oitker, who graduated from Barry High School. "I got my license when I was 14 1/2."

But Oitker, 73, said he doesn't have much choice about retiring.

"I've got bad lungs. It's time to quit," he said. "I'll miss the kids, the people I work with. We've got about the best group of bus drivers we could have."

The job, though, will stay in the family. The district hired Jeremy Walston, Oitker's grandson-in-law, and Walston's kids "are looking forward to their daddy driving," said Oitker, who has been "breaking in" Walston this week.

"Ronnie has been a great asset to the district and actually the whole community. I really appreciate working with him," Superintendent Rodger Hannel said. "It's amazing someone could stay with this business for 51 years and still want to continue to serve the district."

Oitker drove morning and afternoon bus routes for years while working at his family's hardware store in Barry. When he retired from the store in 1999, he took on more bus driving and the job of overseeing the district's six drivers.

"He's always ready to help when we need him," Hannel said. "He's been in it for the right reasons."

After Friday, Oitker and his wife hope to spend more time camping and with family, including five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

"It will be quite a change to go from about 10 hours a day every day, sometimes a lot more than that, to back off to almost nothing," he said. "I may be lost."

Just don't expect Oitker to give up driving a bus.

"I'll probably still do sub bus driving," he said.

-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379