had become trapped trying to fight the fire with a fire extinguisher, but was rescued by a factory worker shortly before the factory exploded. By mid-1946, a new, larger factory was built in Fort Valley, however, Luce nearly died from a heart attack at the factory shortly after its opening. Luce and his son George traveled to Europe in 1948. At the 1948 Paris Auto Salon they saw an all-new forward-control bus. Highly interested in its General Motors/Opel chassis, Luce unsuccessfully tried to secure a supply arrangement with GM. After buying the bus outright and importing it into the United States, the chassis was modified and developed for use with a school bus body, becoming the first Blue Bird All American. In production since 1949, the All American is the longest-produced model of school bus in North America. Later life Luce retired from Blue Bird in 1950. During a trip to California in October 1962, Luce had a second heart attack, and he died from pneumonia in San Francisco. He was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery, Fort Valley, Georgia. Pioneers of the yellow school bus industry Luce is among the early school bus industry pioneers including Perley A. Thomas, who founded Thomas Built Buses, D.H. "Dave" Ward, founder of Ward Body Works (now IC Bus), and the educator Dr. Frank W. Cyr, who, for his persistent work since 1939 to develop school bus safety standards across the country, is widely considered the father of the yellow school bus. References School buses People from Houston County, Georgia People in bus transport Blue Bird Corporation 1962 deaths 1888 births