After spending 40 years driving Mercer Island School District buses, it’s time to hang up the keys and retire, said Dave Irish.

When the last day of school hits on June 20, Irish will be traversing his final routes as a part-time driver who logs about 25 hours a week. For 20 years, he drove the big buses and he completed his final 20 manning the smaller ones while transporting students with disabilities, he said.

“I’m a little nervous. It’s like, gosh, it’s coming to an end here. I’ve got mixed feelings about it,” said the 67-year-old, adding that he’ll miss the kids and will bring many memories along with him into retirement.

This fall, Dave and his wife Nancy plan on moving to Deer Park, north of Spokane, to be near family and spend time with their grandchildren. They resided in the Island’s Shorewood Apartments for about two years around the time Dave began driving the buses, and the Irishes have lived in their Bellevue home since departing the area.

If they don’t move, Dave thinks he’ll sign on as a substitute bus driver on the Island.

On interacting with the students during his drives, Dave noted: “My goal is when I’m on the bus with them is just to relate to them and make them laugh.”

Dave also lets his music do the talking by writing custom songs for the school district’s Pathways adult transition program students and recording them in his home studio. He began taking piano lessons at age 18 and these days plays keyboards and acoustic and electric guitar along with singing his tunes.

Speaking of singing, it’s Dave’s voice you hear on the Car Toys radio spots: “Car Toys: A Better Way to Go!” On the local front, he teamed up with district bus driver musicians to form the Bus Boys band to play some elementary school safety assemblies.

“I rewrote ‘Yellow Submarine,’ the Beatles tune. ‘We all ride in a yellow school bus, climb on board and ride to school with us.’ It was just fun doing those assemblies for the kids,” he said.

Over the last four decades, the paychecks from Dave’s driving job have supplemented his music career in which he’s performed in bands and recorded 12 compact discs and sold them along the way.

For the last 10 years, Dave has been leading music therapy sessions in adult family homes by playing guitar and singing for residents with dementia and Alzheimer’s. He’d like to keep doing that job along with singing a few advertising jingles.

School district lot mechanic Tim Taylor has worked with Dave for approximately 25 years and said that his coworker connects with everyone.

“He likes doing his job and he likes the attention he can give his students on a small bus route,” Taylor said. “During Covid, we made those videos for the students, and Dave always had a song ready we could use on the videos. He is always participating and connecting.”