‘He was always really giving’: Family, coworkers remember UCSC bus driver Dan Stevenson as smart and caring

On Dec. 12, Dan Stevenson and his longtime partner, Sheilah Renaud, made a vegetarian soup with rutabaga in their Ben Lomond kitchen before Stevenson headed off to his shift driving a shuttle bus on UC Santa Cruz’s campus. 

“We made soup together the day he left for work and never came home,” said Renaud. “We had fun in the kitchen.” 

Stevenson died Dec. 29 from injuries he sustained after the bus he was driving crashed into a lime kiln near the base of campus the night of Dec. 12. The crash also injured five passengers.

More than a month after the crash, family members and coworkers remembered the longtime Santa Cruz transit driver as a caring person who loved a good laugh. They said they are still reeling from the accident. 

“For our small, little campus and something so big like that to happen, it’s pretty shocking,” said Bea Allen, a shuttle driver who has worked for UCSC for about 20 years.

UCSC Assistant Transit Manager Stevan Raaymakers said Wednesday that the university is still investigating the cause of the crash, and that any suggestions of what caused it would be speculative. Dan Henderson, executive director of UC Santa Cruz’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS), declined to comment on the investigation and directed questions to university relations officials. 

The day after the crash, the university took all other 35-foot buses off the roads for inspections; the school later also took its 30-foot buses off for inspections. On Wednesday, USCS spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason told Lookout via email that the university continues to investigate the crash and is still inspecting buses for any maintenance concerns, with the help of the California Highway Patrol.

So far, five of the 16 35-foot buses had been put back into service, he said. The 30-foot buses are still not being used until they’re inspected by a third party.

Stevenson was unconscious for 16 days after the accident before he passed away, Renaud said Wednesday. She said she still doesn’t know what happened to her longtime partner or what caused the crash, and that she is heartbroken about his death.

The pair met about 14 years ago through a mutual friend at a dinner at Malabar Restaurant. Renaud found Stevenson intelligent and kind. “He was vulnerable and caring and very smart,” she said. They started dating about two years later. “He was my soulmate.” 

At the transit offices on campus Wednesday, several tributes were set up inside and outside the office in memory of the longtime transit driver. 

One wall featured a group staff photo that included Stevenson next to an enlarged photo of him. 

Nearby, another photo of Stevenson sat on a countertop next to a purple orchid. Just outside the office was a small succulent garden with two plaques to remember campus transit workers who have died in the past. 

Next to the garden was a new pot of flowers dedicated to Stevenson, placed there by Charlotte Liest-Williams. The senior equipment operator has worked at the university for more than 20 years and first got to know Stevenson when she was helping to train new drivers a few years ago. 

She said she always had fun when Stevenson was part of the conversation and that he enjoyed a good laugh. “I got the feeling he was very aware of other people,” she said. “And he saw needs and filled them.”

Allen said Stevenson cared about his colleagues and showed it. For example, when the office was short on forks in its staff kitchen, he brought in more for staff to use. 

“He was always really giving. He always wanted to share and be a problem-solver,” she said. “He brought food he made at home to share with everyone and made sure we had no fork shortage.” 

Allen and Liest-Williams said Stevenson’s death has taken a toll on staff members. “We really miss him,” Liest-Williams said.

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