Riding Regional Transit With DeLeon
After graduating from Willows High School in 1970, DeLeon attended Butte Community College, and worked as a bus driver.
He moved to Sacramento from Willows in 1972 with his mother and siblings, and worked construction building mobile homes. He also began attending Zion Church where he met and married his first wife Gloria, in 1974. At that time, he got hired with Regional Transit and began driving buses in the Sacramento metropolitan area.
DeLeon loved driving buses because he liked being around people. He was always chit chatting with patrons on his route none stop. People that rode his buses liked talking with him because he’d listen to their stories and some times give them advise. He’d often nod his head to assure patrons he was still engaged in what they where saying just out of respect. This is what some people liked most about him is that he’d listen rather than talk, and because of his good active listening skills, many considered him their friend.
DeLeon was very sociable and friendly, and many enjoyed his company. He’d often perform for patrons that rode his buses just to be heard or to entertain. When he sang, people would be amazed because he’d remixed any song into his own rendition..
DeLeon’s was known for being very creative with his voice. He could paint an elaborate picture while singing . He would salt & pepper his lyrics with just the right amount of staccatos, runs, and trills to produce a catchy sound. Hearing him sing live was like watching a grand artist transform a song in grey scale into full color.
However, one thing many didn’t realize is that DeLeon’s greatest ability wasn’t his voice. It was his ear. He had perfect pitch in his ear, and could adjust the tuning of his voice to match any song in any key. He could practically sing any note at the right pitch. He could even hit the C note in the fifth octave full voice!
He never sang flat, and he could improvise and ad-lib to songs he never heard as if he’d listened to them a 100 times.
Many that rode his bus never knew he could sing so well and when they heard him, some wondered why he wasn’t pursuing a music career full time instead of driving buses?
Listen to DeLeon improvise singing to a song he doesn’t know while recording himself on camera
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