Modesto Area Express bus drivers honor their first co-worker felled by COVID-19
More than three dozen Modesto Area Express bus drivers and other employees gathered at noon Friday at the Modesto Transportation Center to honor driver John Grijalva, who died Jan. 8 at the age of 70 after contracting COVID-19.
Grijalva had driven a MAX bus for about a dozen years, according to his daughter, Brandi Oliva, and his illness and death came during an outbreak of COVID-19 among MAX employees. He is the first MAX employee to die from COVID-19, according to the company that operates the bus system for the city.
“He loved his job,” she said in a phone interview. “My dad ... he was a people person. He loved to meet new people. People would get on the bus, and he’d conversate with them. ... He’d come home almost every day with stories about the people he met, and the conversations he had.”
She said her dad stocked his sport utility vehicle with snacks and dog treats that he gave to the homeless people and their dogs that he encountered during his days.
A longtime MAX bus rider who attended Friday’s memorial said she considered Grijalva a friend. She said he treated everyone who boarded his bus with respect and had a knack for getting unruly riders to behave. “He always had a smile and asked how you were doing,” said the bus rider, who identified herself by her nickname, Cat.
27 test positive for COVID-19
Oliva believes her dad contracted COVID-19 while on the job because she said other than work he hardly went anywhere because he did not want to expose himself to the virus and bring it home.
“He was worried about my mom,” she said. “He was doing his best to protect her.” Oliva said her dad became sick in mid December as COVID-19 cases spiked among MAX employees.
The MAX drivers and other employees work for National Express Transit, the company Modesto has hired to operate its bus system. National Express Transit spokesman Ed Flavin said in an email “it is unknown how and where (Grijalva) got sick.”
Flavin said 27 of National Express’s 162 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, but 17 of those cases were in December and nine in January. Modesto has reported that National Express has stepped up its pandemic safety protocols, including weekly testing of employees, in response to the increase in COVID-19 cases.
Oliva said her dad was healthy and strong and had no underlying medical conditions. But she questioned why National continued to have her dad work at his age during the pandemic and not have him stay home until it was safe to return to work. The pandemic has surged throughout the San Joaquin Valley in recent months.
“He was healthy, and he was absolutely amazing and he did not deserve what happened to him,” Oliva said.
Why was dad working at 70?
She said she did not know whether it was her dad’s choice to continue working or whether he did not have a choice. But she knows MAX was short on drivers, and her dad felt an obligation to help out. Flavin did not respond to emailed questions regarding why Grijalva continued to work.
MAX employees decorated a bus in honor of Grijalva, wore buttons laminated with a photo of their departed co-worker and released balloons in his honor. And during the ceremony, other buses leaving the downtown transportation center repeatedly honked their horns in respect to Grijalva.
A woman — whom employees identified as MAX general manager Janice Curre — declined to speak with a reporter and also discouraged employees from speaking. But Flavin and City Manager Joe Lopez offered condolences in emails.
“We are heartbroken by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with our team member’s family,” Flavin said about Grijalva’s death. Lopez said: “Our transit workers are part of the backbone of this city, and we mourn the loss of this front-line service worker along with his family and co-workers.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Modesto Area Express bus drivers honor their first co-worker felled by COVID-19."
