By the age of 16, John Lund had already graduated from St. Paul Central High School and started turning his interest in auto mechanics into a career. After having two sons, though, his wife’s uncle convinced him to work with him at Metro Transit, where he’d have better benefits and more opportunity. Lund would go on to spend the next 40 years at Metro Transit, taking on several different roles in bus and facilities maintenance.

Lund’s first stop, in 1980, was at the newly opened Ruter Garage where, in a brief stay as a cleaner, he dusted dashboards and the ledge in front of the rear window. His first year also included stints as a helper and technician at the old Northside, old Snelling and South garages. At South, Lund directed bus operators into the bay area the night the facility opened – one of several facility openings he participated in during his career. In 1982, Lund moved to the Overhaul Base where he was given an unusual assignment. To cut costs, agency leaders had decided to eliminate air conditioning on buses, and Lund was part of a team tasked with cutting vents into the roofs of more than 1,000 buses. After that, he spent most of the 80s as a technician at the South and Heywood garages.

A decade into his career, Lund returned to school, started his own auto repair business and began teaching part-time at Dunwoody College – all while holding onto his job at Metro Transit. “I worked at Metro Transit at night, taught during the day and ran the auto business out of my house in between,” he said. “That was my 30s.” (Lund said there were days he’d wear his Lund’s Automotive Services uniform while at Metro Transit because, he said, “I didn’t have time to change.”) While Lund thrived off a full plate, he closed the business in 2001. The same year, his son Mike, who’d been a business partner, began working at Metro Transit. (Mike was an Electro-Mechanic Technician at Metro Transit at the time of John’s retirement.)

In 2001, Lund moved to the newly opened East Metro Garage and then returned to the Overhaul Base, where he performed electrical inspections, built motors and was a transmission specialist. At the Overhaul Base, Lund also spent several years as the senior mechanic electrician, one of his most rewarding roles. The work involved sometimes tedious troubleshooting and several significant projects, like the fleetwide installation of the TRAK electronic vehicle monitoring system.” “I loved that job because it was challenging,” Lund said.

Lund left Bus Maintenance in 2009 to serve as a commuter rail foreperson and returned to East Metro later that year. In 2012, he got his first chance to work as a facilities technician – a job that was soon taken by a more senior employee during a pick. He returned to Facilities Maintenance in 2013 and finished out his career as a facilities technician and facilities supervisor.

As a facilities technician, Lund was assigned to the Heywood Office and Operations Support Center, tackling everything from a faulty HVAC unit to building leaks. As a supervisor, he oversaw more than 1 million square feet of support facilities, a team of around a dozen technicians. Among his many projects as a supervisor, he helped install new boilers at the Transit Control Center, improved the bus wash system at the Ruter Garage and contributed to compressed air projects at four locations.

Reflecting on his accomplishments, Lund said he was proud of the legacy he’d leave behind. “My whole attitude has always been to do my best at anything I do,” he said. “From small jobs to big jobs, I’ve accomplished a lot and I’m very proud of that.”

In retirement, Lund planned to spend more time with his family, including his wife, two sons and six grandchildren, and pursuing an array of hobbies, including camping, traveling yardwork, hockey, down-hill and water skiing, snowmobiling, ATV trail riding, fishing, piano, guitar, singing and bowling.

Gene Sheldon’s father spent several decades as a bus operator with the Metropolitan Transit Commission. Growing up in St. Paul, that meant he could occasionally ride with his father to and from school. So it wasn’t altogether surprising that, after graduating from St. Paul College and jobs with Cummins and Caterpillar, Sheldon applied at the MTC. In 1980, as the trucking industry suffered, he began working in bus maintenance at the old Northside Garage. While he thought it’d be a short stay, Sheldon would go on to build a 39-year career in bus and rail maintenance at Metro Transit.

Sheldon’s time at the old Northside Garage was short. Within a month, he moved to the old Snelling Garage where he worked in the brake shop. In the following years, he worked at Nicollet, South and old Snelling, where he repaired lifts, worked in the body shop and maintained HVAC systems, among other responsibilities. Sheldon also spent time outside the shop as a miscellaneous bus operator, occasionally picking up open work so he could “get out and see why we do what we do.”

In 2003, as Metro Transit prepared to open its first light rail line, Sheldon was among the first 12 technicians to begin learning what it would be light to maintain light rail vehicles. He spent several months studying electro mechanics at Dunwoody College, and several more months training in Metro Transit’s fledgling operations and maintenance facility. At first, the new light vehicles didn’t require much maintenance. But Sheldon and others learned how to operate them and were involved in nightly tests that occurred before service began in 2004. When the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit line, now the METRO Blue Line, opened, Sheldon and his peers were ready to step in if any mechanical issues arose. After the successful opening, things never seemed to slow down. “We had 24 vehicles and they wanted all of them out there every day,” Sheldon remembered.

That experience led Sheldon to take on more responsibility as the light rail vehicle maintenance department grew. After serving as a foreperson he became a supervisor and helped created training programs for new hires. In 2007, he became a manager and began overseeing the production of new light rail vehicles in Mexico and California. He also helped develop the specifications for 27 new light rail vehicles that were ordered for the METRO Green Line Extension.

Sheldon retired in September 2019 with plans to do some contract work, travel and enjoy time with his family, including his wife, two children and four grandchildren. Shortly before his retirement, Sheldon said he was grateful to have been able to build a career at Metro Transit. “As I look back, I can say that I really enjoyed working here and that I’m happy with the road I chose,” he said.

As she took the bus to and from her job in downtown Minneapolis, Theresa Collins noticed an ad that said what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission was looking for bus operators. When she applied, there weren’t many female operators and her small stature created some doubts. “I just told them, ‘I’m tough. I can handle it,’” Collins said. She lived up to her word, too, building a 30-year career as a safe, reliable and hard-working operator beloved by passengers and co-workers alike.

At 22 years old, Collins began as a part-time operator at the old Nicollet Garage, where she spent most of her career. At the time, buses lacked power steering and her instructor made her take laps until she could make a turn without hitting the curb. On her first day driving alone, she faced another challenge: heavy snow. “It was basically a blizzard,” Collins said. “Talk about stress. But I made it. I think I probably prayed a lot.”

For the first nine years, Collins worked overnight shifts. Later, she had to balance her work responsibilities with those of being a new mother. While the hours were challenging, she found the work fun and rewarding. She also felt fortunate to have a job that paid well and provided good benefits. “It wasn’t always easy, and I was very young, but I knew I was going to do this job until I retired,” she said.

Collins commitment to her customers and her co-workers was evidenced in many ways. She never missed a day of work, had a nearly perfect safe driving record and spent more than 12 years on one of Metro Transit’s busiest routes, Route 21. She befriended many of her customers and handed out postcards with her picture when she was about to take a different assignment. In 2016, Collins was among the first operators to be assigned to the METRO A Line, Metro Transit’s first Bus Rapid Transit line.

At the garage, Collins boosted morale by decorating for the holidays and joined Peer Support, making herself available to fellow operators who needed someone to talk to. She served on committees focused on safety, community relations and employee wellness and was an active union member throughout her career.

Collins spent the final eight years of her career at South Garage, retiring in August 2019. At her retirement, co-workers said Collins remembered her for her humor, grace, style and kindness. Joining her for the festivities: Her son, Evan Calhoun-Collins, #79195, who had recently been hired as a mechanic technician.  In retirement, Collins planned to travel and spend more time with family and friends.

Dave Jablonski was working as a part runner and drag racing a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 when a friend suggested applying at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission. He applied, passed the entrance exam and started as a cleaner at the Nicollet Garage four months later. Jablonski would end up spending the next 44 years working in bus and facilities maintenance, retiring in 2019 with a reputation as one of Metro Transit’s most dependable technicians. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I went with the flow, was getting raises and liked what I was doing,” Jablonski said. “One thing led to another and I just ended up staying.”

Jablonski moved around quite a bit in his first few years. After starting at Nicollet, he moved to the old Northside Garage where he worked overnight as a fueler. He later returned to Nicollet, where he worked as a helper and technician, and came to Heywood after it opened in 1984. As technician, Jablonski primarily worked early-morning shifts, repairing buses that were going into service for the day. He later moved to the Overhaul Base where he worked in the brake shop and body shop, applying decals to new buses as they arrived. Jablonski also spent more than a decade in non-revenue, maintaining everything from weed whips to skid steers.

Jablonski’s last 11 years at Metro Transit were spent in facilities maintenance, where he was able to work alongside several longtime co-workers who had also become friends. “That was by far the best job I ever had,” he said. “I liked the partners I worked with, and it offered a lot of variety. One day I’d be changing glass, the next day I’d be working on irrigation, plowing snow or putting up a fence. If the public touched it, it was our job to fix it, clean it or replace it.” At his retirement, Jablonski was described as a knowledgeable technician who could always be counted on.

Jablonski retired in August 2019. In retirement, he planned to spend more time with his family and tending to his hobby farm.

Growing up in south Minneapolis, Bradley Larson took the bus to go skiing in Inver Hills and, later, to a job at a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. A nearby neighbor was also a retired bus operator. So after working as a computer technician and taking a few odd jobs, including a stint as a school bus driver, he came around to the idea of working at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission. “I wasn’t sure, but I heard the pay was good, and there was benefits, which is what I was looking for,” Larson remembered. “After a while, I got a decent raise, better hours and that was that.” Larson wound up spending more than 30 years with Metro Transit, retiring in 2019 out of South Garage.    

Larson’s began his career as a bus operator at what was then known as the Shingle Creek Garage. It was a tough start: there were no power brakes or power steering and, as a part-time operator, he was often assigned some of the oldest buses in the fleet. Larson also faced a long commute. His affinity for the work grew over time, though, and, eventually, Larson had worked the extraboard at every garage. “I was all over the place,” he said. “I thought, ‘I don’t know St. Paul, but I’m going to give it a try.’ It ended up being a pretty good experience. I liked the variety and was able to pretty much learn the whole system.” 

After 15 years as a bus operator, Larson transferred to light rail to be among the first train operators on the METRO Blue Line. He remembers it being a nerve-wracking experience. But just as he’d done as a bus operator, Larson grew more comfortable the longer he stayed. “Once I got the feel for it, I had no problem operating those trains at all,” he said. In 2014, Larson took on another challenge, joining the first group of train operators to move to the METRO Green Line. Before service began, he operated test trains through the corridor. Such uncommon experiences became a regular part of Larson’s work – he was the first train operator to test three-car train sets and was once asked to try a four-car train set in the yard. He was also tapped to participate in a mock breakdown on the Highway 62 flyover and was regularly asked to pull-in trains experiencing mechanical issues. “I just kept getting asked to be involved in a lot of the little projects we had going on,” he said. In his decade as a train operator, Larson never had a responsible collision.  

At the end of his career, Larson returned to South Garage, where he spent his final five years as a bus operator. Asked what he’d miss most about Metro Transit, he said it would be the people. “A lot of people would call me crazy because of the off the wall comments I’d make, but I didn’t really care because the whole room would be cracking up,” he said. “We all had a great time together, and that’s what I’ll really miss.”

In retirement, Larson planned to spend time boating on the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers and traveling.