Students wear cowboy hats to honor Robert Banik, longtime Guntown Middle School custodian

By BLAKE ALSUP Daily Journal Sep 8, 2021

GUNTOWN • Students and teachers at Guntown Middle School wore cowboy hats, Tuesday, to honor a longtime maintenance worker who died last week.

Roughly half of the school's sixth through eighth grade students wore cowboy hats in honor of Robert Banik, who donned a cowboy hat every day on the job, Guntown Middle School principal Dr. Karen Letson said.



Dalton Burgett, 12, joins other students at Guntown Middle School on Tuesday in wearing cowboy hats in tribute to the school's longtime maintenance worker, Robert Banik, who died Sept. 3. Banik wore his trademark cowboy hat daily.

Thomas Wells | Daily Journal

Banik died on Sept. 3 at North Mississippi Medical Center.

Banik, who was set to retire in December, worked for 20 years as one of the school's two custodians. Those who knew him said he went far above and beyond the requirements of the job.

The 65-year-old maintenance worker was witty and easygoing. He preferred to communicate by walkie talkie rather than his cellphone. With no qualms, he'd catch and release mice, squirrels or snakes that had found their way inside back into the wild. Banik would bring candy to share with students — from chocolate to butterscotch or peppermints. He always knew which students liked what sweets; if he didn't have candy, he'd slip them a dollar or two.

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A yearbook photo of Robert Banik, longtime Guntown Middle School custodian, in his trademark cowboy hat.

COURTESY

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blake.alsup@djournal.com

Blake Alsup
Reporter

Blake covers education for the Daily Journal.