Bus industry veteran and Trailways operator Kingsland “Jon” Hobein, Jr. passed away December 2, 2012 in Winter Park, FL, at age 69 following a lengthy illness.
Born in Seattle, WA, in 1943, Jon’s lifelong fascination with buses began at age 10. Hobein attended Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, where he drove charter buses part-time for Lake Shore Motor Coach Lines. After graduation from BYU, he served in the U.S. Army as a disc jockey for American Forces Radio. At the same time, he managed to drive part-time for Southeastern Trailways at the same time.
Following his military service, Hobein worked for a number of Trailways carriers that included American Buslines, Pacific Trailways, Capital Trailways of Pennsylvania and Tamiami Trails.
He and his family eventually acquired a bus company in Asheville, NC, that would later become Blue Ridge Trailways, which the Hobeins operated from 1979 to 1997.
Hobein continued in Florida as a consultant for other bus companies and he continued to drive both charter buses and big rigs.
Jon Hobein is survived by his adopted son and brother Lauren of Marshall, NC.
Dec. 6, 2010 – I just taked with Jon Hobein’s brother—Lauren—and Jon never worked for Greyound or Kerrville Bus Lines.
Hello Jim,
Thank you for the correction. We always seek to be accurate, especially in matters like this. The errant paragraph has been removed and the change will be reflected when the item appears in the January issue.
Best,
BUSRide
I sorry to hear of Jon’s passing. I was surprised to hear he had graduated from BYU. In my interchange with Jon I thought he was not friendly toward the organization that operated his alma mater. He was a walking history book when it came to so many of those companies that were part of Trailways and those lines that feed passengers to them. My condolences to his family. Fred