TOMBALL, Texas — Beloved Tomball ISD bus driver Tony Moreno is being remembered days after his death.
“He always had a smile on his face," friend Ashley Gardner said. "He would always make you laugh.”
Friends say the 54-year-old's personality made him popular with children along his route.
"You know, the kids just loved him and the parents of the children loved him and often he would bring home, you know, homemade bread and different things that they would give him,” Garder said.
Gardner met Moreno through her husband, who was a lifelong friend. She said Moreno worked a few days this school year before he started experiencing mild symptoms. Those symptoms became more severe by the time he went in for a COVID test.
"They transported him by ambulance to the hospital,” Gardner said.
She said Moreno died and his wife and son also dealt with the effects of COVID.
"They put him on life support and within nine days of his first symptom ... he’s gone,” Gardner said.
Gardner started a fundraising site to help the family with expenses related to Moreno’s sudden death and there’s been an outpouring of condolences.
Tomball ISD said grief counselors are also available to transportation employees.
The district also announced that a bus attendant also recently passed away from COVID, although he or she had not been aboard a bus this year.
"Vaccines are obviously incredibly useful tools to fighting the virus,” Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath said during a meeting this week.
Morath encouraged anyone who’s eligible to get a COVID vaccination to get it as soon as possible.
It's something the union that represents many of Houston ISD's bus drivers credits for limited severe cases among its members.
Gardner said Moreno was not vaccinated.
“COVID’s a sad thing already, you know, it’s a beast," Gardner said. "I mean, it takes anyone, but when you have someone so close to you, a friend or family, it kind of hits home. You know, it makes it a little more real.”
Tomball ISD's full statement:
"The district extends its deepest, most heartfelt condolences to the family and coworkers," read the statement. "During this challenging time, Tomball ISD has arranged for its crisis-grief counselors to visit the transportation department for anyone who may need assistance or encouragement."