I called Brandon Billingsley “bear.” I’m fairly certain many who knew him had the same or a similar nickname. If you knew the late president and owner of Heavy Duty Bus Parts and UltraLED, who passed away suddenly Tuesday morning at the far too young age of 42, I think you might agree.
If ever somebody embodied a bear, it was Brandon.
The nickname came to me shortly after meeting him more than a decade ago. I had talked to him on the phone several times for background on articles, at the request of retired STN Editor and Publisher Bill Paul. I was just learning about the industry when Bill suggested I get to know Brandon because we were roughly the same age. A few years earlier, Brandon had joined Heavy Duty Bus Parts, which was owned and operated by his father at the time. But long before that, he had grown up around the school bus industry and Bill, correctly, figured that we might hit it off.
What first struck me was the East Texas drawl and the “Yes, sir.” I figured Brandon was either extremely polite or ex-military. I soon learned he was both. Then we met in person for the first time — I think at the 2004 STN EXPO. The nickname came to me soon after shaking his hand and wondering if I had suffered any broken bones as a result.
Granted, I rarely called him “bear” to his face, mostly because he probably knew about 1,000 ways to inflict physical pain upon me. Brandon was a big guy, with a physique that easily could have translated on the college or even professional football field as a linebacker. He was also a former ranger in the U.S. Army and an avid outdoorsman. He liked to hunt and fish and knew his way around guns. Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping bears lie.
Brandon loved movies as well. He personally knew Marcus Lutrell, the retired Navy Seal and author of “Lone Survivor,” the story of Operation Red Wing in 2005 to kill or capture a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. The book was later made into a feature film starring Mark Wahlberg as Luttrell. Brandon could quote that movie almost verbatim as well as several other recent hits. Every time I saw him, he seemed to have new movie lines committed to memory.
He was also a sports fan, something else we had in common. Being a former sportswriter, I enjoyed our frequent conversations about the latest news of the day or ribbing him about his Houston Texans.
Beyond all of that, Brandon was a man of passion for God and country, his beautiful family, the student transportation industry, his businesses, his employees and associates, and his friends. I’m still coming to terms with the realization I won’t see Brandon in Kansas City at the NAPT Summit next month, how I won’t be greeted by a familiar “Hey there, buddy” and not only the handshake but also a slap on the back.
Yet I know his legacy lives on. Just as I’ll remember his booming voice and laugh, the way he purposefully looked into your eyes when speaking and how he reverently called you “sir” or “ma’am,” no matter your age, I’ll see Brandon in each and every new technological solution that comes to market to aid in the safe transportation of schoolchildren. More importantly I’ll see Brandon when I look at myself in the mirror and evaluate how to conduct my affairs as a man and how to treat others with fairness and respect.
And I’ll see Brandon every time I see a bear, an animal defined by intelligence, pure grace, power and devotion.
Bon voyage, good buddy.
