Guntown Middle School Honors Memory Of Longtime Custodian

GUNTOWN, MISS. (WCBI) – The dress code was a little more relaxed today at Guntown Middle School in Lee County.

As she taught her seventh-grade English class at Guntown Middle School, Janet Carroll also reminisced about longtime custodian Robert Banik.

“He complained the whole time about my bulletin board, it was over there, I said Mr. Banik, could you move it, he said, what? I said, I’m over here now,” Carroll said.

It was just one of many stories told about Mr. Banik, who passed away last week.  Banik worked maintenance at Guntown Middle School for twenty years and he was known for wearing cowboy hats.

GMS Principal Doctor Karen Letson says she was contacted by a student who wanted to do something to honor Mr Banik.

“A student emailed me this weekend, asking if it would be ok to wear cowboy hats today to honor and remember him for all the service he has done at the school,” Dr. Letson said.

So cowboy hats were allowed on this day at Guntown Middle School. , where Banik was known for getting to the school at 5 30 every morning.  He would not only do his custodial duties but would also make desks, tables and other classroom furniture teachers needed.

He was also a friend to students, faculty, and staff and he was known for his generosity toward the students.

“He was constantly giving them a dollar to buy something out of the snack store, to buy a coke, my own children, he would give a dollar in the afternoons, I don’t know how many children he’s given dollars to here, teachers, kids students,  here, take a dollar to go get you something,  he was a people person and everybody loved him and it will be hard to replace him,” Letson said.

Doctor Letson says she has many fond and funny memories of Banik, and one, in particular, stands out.

“After Fourth of July one year he was mowing, behind the back of the school and ran over a firework that did not go off and it exploded under the mower and he jumped off, running off one way and the lawnmower kept going the other way,” she said.

Over the years I covered a lot of stories at Guntown Middle School and Robert Banik was typically the first to greet me when I drove up.  He would always help me find my way around the campus.  He always had a smile on his face and was always eager to talk about his latest handyman project for the school, and of course, he always had that cowboy hat.  He will be missed.

Banik was also known by many who worked with him at Hunter Sadler in Tupelo.