Great People

At Metro Transit, Dispatcher Michael Adams found not only a career, but the love of his life. It started in 2004, when a new operator named Patricia came to his dispatcher window at Heywood Garage. He struck up a conversation about her badge being crooked – seven years later, they married. “It started out as a friendship that led to love,” Adams said.  

But if it wasn’t for his brothers, he might not have met Patricia in the first place. They were also bus operators and strongly and repeatedly encouraged him to keep applying to become a dispatcher. “There wasn’t a whole lot of diversity in that position when I applied,” he said. “It meant a lot to me to become one. I’m proud to represent our family.”  

Bus operators appreciated Adams as a dispatcher. He was a calm, steady presence with a sense of humor at the start of their shifts. The demeanor came in part because Adams spent a decade as an operator himself, experiencing firsthand the stresses operators face. His advice: “You will have good days and bad days, but you can choose to focus on the good. We have more in common than we don’t have in common.”  

Through the years, Adams earned the 10-year Safe Driving, Outstanding Dispatcher, and 20-year Safe Dispatcher awards. He served at Nicollet, East Metro, Old Snelling, and finally Ruter, where he ended his 30-year career in September 2022. 

In retirement, Adams planned to spend more time with his family, including his retired wife, three daughters and four grandchildren. 

When he turned 18, Tim Maloy was looking for a job. What he found was a 42-year long career at Metro Transit.

It began after following the advice to apply from his stepdad who worked as a bus operator at the old Northside Garage. When Maloy saw an opening for a vault puller, he applied, and the rest is history.

“At the time I was excited to get a 5-cent increase to 5 dollars an hour from my previous job in fast food,” Maloy said. “But what really mattered is that I had benefits. It was then I knew that if I worked here long enough, I could retire.”

As he enjoys numbers and technical problems, Maloy found his niche in fareboxes. His career began at the Old Shingle Creek garage as a vault puller for 7 years. Then, he decided to follow the vaults into the central cash room at Heywood, where he spent the next 6 years. Finally, he found his last career stop as a Farebox Technician at the Old Snelling Garage and then the Operations Support Center. Today, he retires as the Lead Farebox Technician.

“I worked with a lot of good people,” he said. “This is a great company to work for and I tell people to apply all the time.”

He is especially thankful for the benefits that kept him out of debt while providing medical care to his first wife as she battled a disease that eventually took her life.

“Transit’s been very good to me,” Maloy said. “But it’s time for me to retire.”

In retirement, Maloy plans to spend more time with his second wife who recently retired as well. They plan to travel the US with their three pugs and eventually split their time between Minnesota and Florida.

When Jay Russell began in 1984, Metro Transit operated very differently. “I drove buses that didn’t have power steering, AC, or radios,” he said. “And, if we needed to call the Transit Control Center, we’d have to find a payphone.”

Though not always easy, those 13 years as a bus operator provided the foundation for what would become a 38-year career in transit. Jay retired last week with plans to travel with his wife across the U.S. and abroad.

After his time as a bus operator, Jay became a transit supervisor. He enjoyed supporting special events, helping operators, and the sense of autonomy the work provided. “Out there, you’re a part of a team, but also your own boss in many ways,” he said. “And it’s great to be outside all day.”

For the past 15 years, Jay has served as an assistant manager in Street Operations, a fitting capstone to his nearly four decade career. “I’m proud of being able to move up in the company,” he said. “When I started, I never thought I’d be anything but a bus operator.”

Looking back, Greg Stowe wishes he would have started at Metro Transit sooner.

“After finishing vocational school, I found out that Metro Transit had programs to train people to be mechanics,” Stowe said. “I should have come here instead.”

In 1984, he started as a skilled helper and a few years later became a diesel mechanic. Stowe worked at a few garages before landing at Heywood Garage, where he worked for most of his career.

“Heywood was my home,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve watched a lot of changes. I’ve enjoyed the variety of what you do.”

Beyond seeing changes, he took part in helping make some of them as a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) executive board. After being appointed 14 years ago, he ran unopposed throughout his career.

Being a member of the board put him in a position to work with management and negotiations.

“We butted heads sometimes, but we always respected each other,” Stowe said. “It’s always best if we can work together as a team.”

Now, as he retires, it’s time for another person to take his place in the garage and on the board. After all these years, Stowe hopes his efforts are remembered.

“I gave it my best,” he said. “I hope I’ve made an impact on people’s lives and how we operate. But now it’s time to move on.”

In retirement, Stowe and his wife plan to spend time at their cabin up north and take care of his aging mother.

Donald Helledrung started his 35-year career at Metro Transit as a part-time weekend operator.

When he was offered full-time, he quit his job in sales and worked towards the retirement he envisioned.

“I’m a workaholic and I took advantage of every opportunity I could,” he said. “However, I never sought another position as I knew I could maximize my pension by being a bus operator.”

He’d often elect to work 16-hour days, seven days a week to reach his goals, even as he gained seniority within the union. Many operators have tried his schedule and don’t understand how he was able to do it. His strategy was simple, but effective.

“I always remember to not take the little things to heart and let things roll off me and focus on safe bus operations,” Helledrung said.

For 33 of those years, he called Nicollet Garage home and his coworkers, family. After a recent medical issue, however, he did six months of soul searching that led the 67-year-old to retire. He sees it as a farewell, however, and not a goodbye.

“We all keep in touch, even the retirees,” he said. “It’s been a fabulous ride that went by in a blink of an eye, but now it’s time for me to go.”

In retirement, he plans to spend more time with his wife, another retired bus operator, at their cabin in Minnesota and vacation home in Arizona.