There’s nothing quite as special as a happily married couple. Add on a happily married couple that works together – now that’s extra special!
Meet Pat and Willie Bumcon. They are the quintessential extra special couple, and they have the qualifications to prove it. They’ve been married for 16 years, are very much in love and work together for Irving ISD in the transportation department.
Their sweet love story began at church. Willie was the superintendent of Sunday school, and it just so happened that he needed a secretary. Their pastor assigned Pat to be Willie’s secretary, and that’s how their love story began. They married on July 30, 2005, and as they say, “The rest is history.”
Willie joined the district in 2017 as a bus driver, and Pat came aboard shortly afterward in 2018 as a bus monitor.
Willie drives students with special needs, picking them up from all over the metroplex and transporting them to Bowie Middle School. Pat greets her students in the morning with a big smile and assists the bus driver by keeping all students safely seated. Just like her husband, she is assigned to a bus that transports students with special needs. Both absolutely love their jobs.
“I love the kids. They become my babies,” Pat says with a big smile. “Actually, I keep in contact with some of the parents throughout the summer. One of the mamas sent me a picture of the kids during the holidays.They have become almost like my family.”
Willie shares the same sentiments.
“The best part of the job is the children,” he says. “I enjoy seeing how they grow and develop. I also enjoy driving, and this is one of the jobs I can drive and be around children.”
On Monday, August 16, Irving ISD students will wake up early, put on their first day of school outfit and walk to the bus stop. Some will be greeted with a big smile from Pat and Willie. Those students will spend the school year learning how to be joyful and kind to others simply by riding the bus that Willie and Pat are on. It’s just part of who the Bumcons are. They are just an “extra special” couple.
