For 27 years, Clinton Marshall drove school buses for Gordon County and city schools. He was the first black and youngest to drive for county integrated schools. The first 20 years were with the county then he switched to city schools before his retirement in June 2007.
Marshall, a native of nearby Curryville, now 69 years old, recalls how he first got into driving. He said he had just gotten back from a family vacation and was at school registering his kids when his name was called over the intercom.
He went to the principal’s office and was told they needed a bus driver and the county had a position open. “You’ve been highly recommended,” the principal told him at the time.
Marshall had been laid off his job so he decided to give it a try; he started on Aug. 22, 1979.
He said in the beginning he had a rough time in the area he drove in. “It was hard for whites to digest [a black driver] at first,” he said. “Not all of them, but you had a few that it was hard to believe the fact that I got the job.”
He recalls in the beginning being called the “N” word. He remembers one morning while driving the bus coming to a crossroad to see the letters “KKK” painted in the middle of the street.
“I ignored it and did my job, I didn’t let up,” Marshall said.
He recalls the day a white student told him that his dad said he didn’t have to follow instructions from the bus driver.
“I told him well your dad is going to take you to school,” said Marshall with a chuckle.
He said it took about 8 to 12 months for him to gain respect from students. He drove black and white kids and didn’t allow them to get out of control or unruly.
“They saw I ran the bus good and didn’t have any problems,” he said.
The whole 27 years Marshall drove buses he had one rule: no talking in the mornings.
“On morning routes, there was no talking, it was quiet. We called that meditation,” he said.
Marshall said he was driving in rural areas and needed to concentrate on the roads. There were small dirt roads, log trucks traveling, too.
“I didn’t need to be looking in the mirror screaming at kids and run into somebody,” Marshall said.
Older students would tell the new ones each year so word got around that there is no talking on Mr. Marshall’s bus in the morning. It was a practice that worked and he took it with him the two years he drove buses for alternative students.
“A lot of people didn’t like that job, but I took it when it was offered to me,” Marshall said of driving the bus for kids with behavior problems.
He said it took him a month to get the kids under control, but they eventually became some of his best little friends.
“I gave them love and understanding because a lot of them are used to being fussed at and knocked around and told they are not any good because they made a mistake,” he said.
Marshall said they were sometimes easier than the regular students.
When Marshall started driving buses in the 70s, he was making about $270 a month plus benefits, which he said came in handy when his first wife was struck with heart disease and medical bills rolled in.
“It’s still not paying what it should, but it’s getting up there,” Marshall said of bus drivers pay.
Since retiring almost eight years ago, Marshall has stayed active with the Calhoun Housing Authority. He is the vice president of the board. He’s also in a gospel group called “Big C and the Mighty Voices of Zion.” He said he enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his wife, Lula. He remarried seven years after his first wife passed in 2001. They have seven children between the two of them and some grandkids.
Marshall said whenever he gets any free time he enjoys fishing and cars.
“I enjoy keeping a sharp truck, too,” he said.
He said he’ll forever be grateful for his time driving buses.
“I had some good experience and some rough days, but all and all I can say I really enjoyed it,” he said.
Occasionally he runs into former students. They are grown and have families of their own. He admits that he can’t always remember their names, but they know his.
They introduce him to family: “That’s Mr. Marshall, he was the best bus driver we ever had.”
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