The world rode his family’s school buses. Now Blue Bird heir leaves legacy of the heart

Friends and family of Albert Laurence “Buddy” Luce Jr. say he was true to his nickname.

“He was everybody’s ‘Buddy.’ He was everyone’s hero,” Luce’s obituary reads.

The Fort Valley native and son of the founder of the Blue Bird Bus Co. died Wednesday at age 94.

“While we are deeply saddened to hear of Buddy’s passing, we should remember the fulfilling life he lived,” Blue Bird President and CEO Phil Horlock said in a company memo Thursday. “At nearly 95 years old, Buddy was able to experience many great things and see this company become what it is today.”

Luce was just 5 when his father and namesake built a steel-panel school bus in his auto dealership in Peach County.

Albert Luce Sr., a Ford dealer, went on to found the company in 1932 and turned it over to his three sons after his death following a heart attack in 1962.

It became the nation’s top bus manufacturer as the company began exporting around the world in the late 1970s.

By the mid-’80s, one out of every three school buses sold was a Blue Bird.

Management led a leveraged buyout of the company in 1992.

Luce and his brothers, George Edgar and Joseph Parley, all had serious heart conditions and underwent bypass surgery.

George died in 1990. Joseph passed away in 2006.

As the surviving son, Buddy Luce donated a portion of his fortune to build the Albert L. “Buddy” Luce Jr. Heart Tower at the Medical Center, Navicent Health, due to the family history of heart disease.

The late singer Merle Haggard praised the facility when he spent days there after falling ill before a concert appearance in Macon in January 2012.

Navicent Health CEO Ninfa Saunders issued a statement about the death of Luce, who she said was deeply committed to enhancing health care in his community.

He not only gave financially, but donated his time by serving on the Peach County Hospital Authority for more than two decades.

“He was a servant to his community and truly improved the quality of life not only for central Georgians, but for the many others who seek care in the community,” Saunders stated.

Kerry Rooks, whose funeral home has charge of Luce’s arrangments, said many of “Mr. Buddy’s” good deeds were done in secret.

Luce’s obituary notes his generosity.

“His greatest joy was to make a difference in other people’s lives, and he gave cheerfully, sometimes anonymously and spontaneously.”

Luce, who served in the Air Force in World War II, was inducted into the Georgia Tech College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 1998 for his career accomplishments.

Luce left Georgia Tech before graduation to serve as a pilot in World War II and returned to Fort Valley at age 23 to take his father’s position at the company in 1945, according to his obituary.

He made major contributions to Christian causes, including the Helen Mathews Luce chapel at Kentucky Mountain Bible College and John Wesley Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.

Luce also endowed the chaplain position at the Methodist Home for Children in Macon.

Gregarious by nature and an easy-going friend, Luce loved to boat with family and friends and traveled the globe in his retirement years.

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Betty M. Luce.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Fort Valley United Methodist Church. Burial will be private at Oaklawn Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the obituary suggests memorial gifts be sent to Christian organizations or charities in Luce’s honor.

“The Luce family truly built a legacy that will forever be a part of this company’s and our nation’s history,” Horlock wrote. “Buddy will live long in our memories.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 7:29 AM with the headline "The world rode his family’s school buses. Now Blue Bird heir leaves legacy of the heart."