Rossford Schools' bus driver was loved by students

12/27/2008

Linda Gyori, 64, a longtime bus driver for Rossford Exempted Village Schools, died Wednesday in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.

She likely died of a heart attack, her husband, Bob Gyori, said.

Mrs. Gyori graduated from Rossford High School in 1962 and went on to work as a bus driver for Rossford schools for 28 years.

She cared deeply for the children who rode her bus, her sister Charlene Anderson said. Many remembered her long after they no longer rode her route.

"The kids would see her in the store 20 years later and would run and throw their arms around her," Ms. Anderson said.

Each Halloween, Mrs. Gyori would make her own costume and hand out treats to the children on the bus.

She dressed up as a cow one year and gave the riders Milk Duds. Another year, Mrs. Gyori made a squirrel costume and gave the children peanuts, Ms. Anderson said.

"She was one of the most creative, dynamic, fun ladies you will have ever met in your life," Ms. Anderson said.

For Christmas, Mrs. Gyori made each of the children on her bus an ornament, and also made them for her own children.

Her daughter, Jeri Lynne Gray, said her Christmas tree is filled with ornaments her mother made her over the years.

"I've got probably 20 of them," Ms. Gray said.

And for the children's birthdays, Mrs. Gyori would make them birthday pins.

"She was very, very talented," her husband said.

Mrs. Gyori also volunteered at St. Anne Mercy Hospital and made about a dozen teddy bears each month for newborns.

"She was a Christian lady in the truest sense," Ms. Anderson said. "She was a giver, not a taker."

Mrs. Gyori also was well-known for her cooking.

Her son Charlie Gyori said his mother's homemade apple pies and apple sauce were his favorites.

Mr. Gyori said his mother loved making things from scratch and trying new recipes. She also enjoyed playing bingo, Bunco, and bowling.

He said he would go over to his parents' house a few times every month to have "mom's cooking."

Mrs. Gyori was a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees and served as past president and secretary. She also served as president of the School Employees' Retirement Organization.

Mrs. Gyori was a member of the Rossford Eagles and served as a past advisor for the Glenwood School 4-H Club.

She is survived by her husband, Bob Gyori; sons, Bobby and Charlie Gyori; daughters, Jeri Lynne Gray and Tracey Nunivellar; sisters, Charlene Anderson, Joanne Myers, Sharon Grames, Terry Pope, and Marsha Boris; four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

The body will be in the Sujkowski Funeral Home, Rossford, after 2 p.m. tomorrow. Funeral services will begin Monday at 11 a.m. in the mortuary.

The family suggests memorial tributes to the Rossford High School Scholarship Fund.