When the company Wm Henry was working for was bought out, he had to decide whether to move or find a new line of work. Encouraged by his wife, a faithful bus rider, he applied for a job as a bus operator at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission. He was hired in 1989, starting as a part-time operator at the Shingle Creek Garage, and retired nearly 32 years later with perfect attendance and safety records.

Growing up in Liberia, and later working for a mining company there, Henry had his sights set on a career in maintenance. He came to Minnesota in 1984 for school and started to pursue a similar path here, working as a mechanic at Sears and then at a production company maintaining lift equipment. Becoming a bus operator, he thought, would be a way into bus maintenance. “But when my fingernails finally got clean, I realized I could wear a necktie, and I saw that I could get out and get some fresh air I stopped pursuing that path,” Henry said.

After a few years as a part-time operator, Henry went full-time and moved to the Heywood Garage, where he spent the remainder of his career and largely worked the extraboard. Asked why he stayed, he said: “I got to know the people, and the people got to know me. There was a real camaraderie there.” He attributed his success as an operator to his faith and his wife, who supported him at every step along the way. “People always asked me why I was so happy and the answer was, ‘The Lord first, and my wife second,’” he said. One of Henry’s more memorable moments as an operator came in 2016, when he helped welcome then-Vice President Joe Biden onboard a bus during a stop at St. Paul’s Union Depot. 

Henry retired in March 2021 as an "Elite Superior Master Driver." In retirement, Henry planned to spend more time with his family, including four children, and to travel.