WILTON – Recently retired SAD 9 bus driver Barbara Hinkley of North Jay was remembered by her peers Thursday as a woman who loved children.

She was dedicated to her job as a bus driver, they said, and to her community and family as well.

Hinkley, 59, succumbed to injuries she received Thursday in a two-vehicle accident on Routes 2 and 4 in Wilton. Wilton police say the highway had turned icy shortly before the accident.

Hinkley, the wife of David Hinkley, started as a bus driver in the school district in April 1986. She retired in October.

She drove the bus that carried children from Farmington Falls and Chesterville to Mt. Blue high and middle schools and Mallett and Cascade Brook elementary schools, all in Farmington.

“She was very caring of her students, dependable,” SAD 9 Director of Transportation David Leavitt said. “It’s kind of a shocking situation.”

She was also active in the Farmington Emblem Club, he said, citing the service club as an example of Hinkley’s interest in her community.

“She loved children,” said Jeannette Palumbaro of Farmington, the lead SAD 9 bus driver and Hinkley’s cousin. “She loved doing things for children. She loved doing anything for anyone.”

“Barbara was always here and dependable,” Palumbaro said. “We’re all very upset. She was a good person and loved her grandchildren very much.”

Hinkley would help her grandchildren make things to give to the SAD 9 transportation secretaries as gifts.

Bruce Rollins of Wilton, who has been driving a SAD 9 bus for seven years, recalled her sense of humor.

“She always told jokes to lighten the day,” he said.

Hinkley had served as president of the Farmington Emblem Club twice and as president of the Maine State Emblem Club in the past, said Sharon Jacques of Wilton.

“I think she loved the Emblem Club,” said Jacques, the press correspondent for the Farmington club.

“She didn’t miss meetings.”

Late last year, Jacques said, Hinkley helped with a Christmas party for foster children in Turner.

She just liked to help with whatever was going on, Jacques said.