Kindness and patience are the virtues held by those we consider good people in this world, and for former Cedarburg resident and bus driver Dwight Miller, those words certainly ring true.
Miller had been serving as a bus driver for the Cedarburg School District driving special needs kids to and from school every day, and volunteered with Friendship Ministries and as a Big Brother in Big Brothers Big Sisters. He recently retired from the role to move with his wife to Ohio to be closer to his son and grandchildren, who are currently living there.
Miller was also recently nominated for the “Be A Good Neighbor Contest” by his neighbor, Susan Grosskoph. She won a private hometown screening of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” a documentary about the life of the former TV host Fred Rogers — better known by those who watched as “Mister Rogers” — for her nomination of Miller.
“Many of you know of his kindness as a bus driver for Riteway because you worked with Dwight or you were a student or family member of his beloved kids,” Grosskoph said prior to the movie screening in Cedarburg July 23.
“Bus driver doesn’t describe what Dwight did and the impact he made every day,” Grosskoph said. “Parents knew their children were in the best hands when they left for school and when he returned them home. He waited, (probably longer than he should have sometimes) for the student who just couldn’t quite get going in the morning. He was singing songs, decorating the bus with monthly themes, and quietly mentoring from behind the wheel.”
As a service to the parents of the special needs children he drove, Miller would meet with the parents and their children at their homes before the school year started as part of the dry run he was required to do for his bus route.
With early childhood children and their families, he at first encountered reluctance from the parents due to their kids being so young. Miller did his best to make parents feel comfortable by giving them the option to come with their kids on the bus during the dry run.
“I just care about kids because I think I was raised that way, and my parents cared about other people, too,” Miller said. “God has been part of my life, too. He cares about me, and I need to show that to others.
“I just enjoy it. Parents are appreciative of it. It’s a two-way street. You work with somebody and enjoy what you’re doing, and they see that you enjoy what you’re doing and care about them, and they care about you, too.”
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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