Larry Shaner, the shuttle bus driver some students called “Scary Larry” several years ago, died on Jan. 3 of a heart attack.

Shaner was 59 years old, had five kids and drove shuttles at the University for 11 years, usually on the main route from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“He really loved his job,” said his wife, Nancy Shaner. “He enjoyed all the kids he met on the bus.”

Nancy remembered when he was called “Scary Larry,” and said he earned that nickname because of his curly haircut.

“His hair was so long and it froed up,” she said.

Nancy also remembered a time when a handicapped woman was on the bus, and Shaner stopped right in front of the building instead of the bus stop so she wouldn’t have to walk as far.

“He would come home and share some of the stories with me,” Nancy said.

Before his death, Shaner had arthroscopic knee surgery, but the surgery wasn’t the cause of the heart attack.

“This came on so suddenly, it was just really a shock,” Nancy said.

Shaner’s co-workers were also jarred by his sudden passing.

“It was awful sudden,” said Rich Van Horn, another shuttle driver. “In fact, he was in the office that Friday.”

Aileen Berry, the assistant supervisor at the campus shuttle service, was hired at the same time as Shaner.

“He’s the number one guy I go to when I had to train drivers,” Berry said. “I could count on him to just do the job. The kids liked him, he liked the kids.”

He was also a volunteer fireman for as long as Berry knew him.

“That truly was his first love,” Berry said. “Running to accidents to help people.”

She remembered he used to drive with two police scanners so he would be up-to-date on the news and know whether there were any incidents in town.

“He was chomping at the bit to get off the bus and go help someone,” Berry said.

The last picture Berry took of Shaner, he gave her a goofy smile. At the time she was irritated because he didn’t act normally. Now, it just makes her laugh, she said.

The University police are collecting donations for the Shaner family.