When Kevin Krepsky started working as a Cleaner, he didn’t anticipate making a career out of transit. But what might have been a temporary stay became less and less so as he worked his way up from the Cleaner role into daytime jobs as a Helper, Skilled Helper and Mechanic-Technician. As his responsibilities grew, Krepsky found gratification from diagnosing and fixing problems. He particularly enjoyed working on the heating and cooling systems, which involved the entire bus. As a Mechanic-Technician, Krepsky worked at several garages, including South, Ruter, Nicollet and the Overhaul Base. He spent most of his time at the old Snelling Garage, moving to a much cleaner, less polluted East Metro when it opened in 2001. “It was kind of strange (moving from old Snelling to East Metro) but we were all looking forward to a change,” he said. (Krepsky’s brother Darrell also spent more than 30 years in Bus Maintenance, retiring in early 2016.) Krepsky spent the last nine years of his career in Facilities Maintenance, fixing and maintaining support buildings. He was the first Facilities Maintenance staff member to work at the METRO Green Line’s Operations and Maintenance Facility, in Lowertown, starting there a year before rail service began. The move was inspired by his interest in trains, as well as an interest in having a new experience. “A lot of people thought because it was a new building that there wouldn’t be much to do, but it was really the opposite,” he said. After nearly 37 years of service, Krepsky retired in March 2016. In retirement, he plans to spend more time with his family, including his wife and two children, and pursuing his hobbies – biking, woodworking and restoring a 1980 Corvette.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Darrell Krepsky took a job as a third-shift cleaner sweeping buses at the old Northside Garage. He assumed it would be a stepping stone to something else. But it wasn’t. Within weeks, Krepsky moved into a Fueler position. Shortly after that he became a Mechanic-Technician, a role he held for more than three decades. “I was learning more and more, and at some point there became no reason to leave,” Krepsky said. During his career, Krepsky worked at every garage except for old Snelling and East Metro and on several generations of buses. He spent nearly a decade working on powertrains and 15 years as an AC mechanic. Krepsky said he enjoyed the daily challenges the job presented and the variety of the work. “I always took pride in what I was doing and always tried to do my best,” he said. The other major appeal was the people he worked with and the friends he made over the years. When he retired in January 2016 with more than 35 years of service, he said those friendships are what he will miss most about the job. But Krepsky has plans for his next chapter. In retirement, Krepsky hopes to find a part-time job doing something completely different than he’s done in the past and to spend more time trapshooting. He may also visit Italy, where his wife Cathy’s grandparents are from.

Growing up in Minneapolis, Gregory Gaustad regularly rode the bus to trade school downtown. And while he never thought he’d be the one behind the wheel, life led him to that exact spot and kept him there for the next 36 years. “I never really gave it much thought – it just kind of happened,” Gaustad said shortly before retiring in January 2016. Gaustad’s career began at the Old Northside Garage; he spent a decade at Nicollet Garage and closed out his career at Heywood Garage. Gaustad said driving came naturally and that he enjoyed the variety he got from being an extraboard driver assigned to different routes each day. Among his more memorable moments came in 1987, driving through a flooded area on Route 17. “You could see the water coming up the stairs and then down the aisle,” he said. “I had to get a little creative and go around.” Gaustad said his career was otherwise relatively quiet and uneventful. But he enjoyed visiting with his fellow operators and passengers, whose chit-chat made the days go a little faster. One reason for the relative calm was Gaustad’s patience and safe driving abilities – he recorded 28 years of safe driving during his career. In retirement, Gaustad plans to spend more time Up North ice fishing, deer hunting and with his family, including two daughters and one son.

Silas “Sy” Sharp never shied away from work. After serving in the Korean War, he spent his days working as a heavy equipment operator with the City of Minneapolis and his nights at the Minneapolis Athletic Club, full-time jobs that took 16 hours of his day even as he studied management at the University of Minnesota. In 1963, on the advice of a club member who worked in transit, he took a job in bus maintenance at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission, or MTC. For 22 years, he held full-time jobs with both the city and MTC. Sharp retired from the city after 30 years, and in early 2016 retired from Metro Transit with 52 years of service – the longest tenure in agency history. “I didn’t get much sleep sometimes – I averaged about three hours of sleep, four maybe,” Sharp said shortly after his retirement. “I’m the type of guy, I just love working.” At 28 years old, Sharp began his career as a cleaner sweeping buses at the old Northside Garage in Minneapolis. He later became what was known as a “hustler,” fueling and moving buses around the garage. His strong work ethic and history as a Sgt. in the Army led him to be recruited as a garage foreman, the first of several management positions he held in Bus Maintenance. Sharp also worked as a foreman at the old Snelling Garage and as the Maintenance Manager at the Nicollet and Martin J. Ruter garages. Sharp is particularly proud of his tenure at Nicollet, an underperforming garage he was tasked with turning around. “There were a lot of people here who said it couldn’t be done,” Sharp said. “I said, ‘There’s no such thing as can’t,’ because that’s what I was taught. That it can be done if you apply yourself. And Nicollet went from being one of the worst to the best. I was very proud of that.” In retirement, Sharp is spending more time with his family, including wife Mary, three daughters, two sons and 12 grandchildren, enjoying a new home in Florida and fishing.