Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Barbara Bruton has bid a fond farewell to Big Bend Transit, where she worked as a driver and in dispatch for 35 years. She retired on Sept. 10, 2021.
When Bruton moved to the area in the mid-80s, she wanted to find work that involved helping people, and driving vans for Big Bend Transit allowed her to do just that. Some elderly residents had no transportation when their family members went to work each day. Some families needed support getting their children to locations with services from the ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) or UCP (United Cerebral Palsy). Other folks had medical conditions that made it difficult for them to drive themselves day to day. There were passengers she would see two, three, even five days a week.
"Every passenger was different," recalls Bruton. "You want to treat everyone like you want to be treated. You learn them, and they learn you."
Bruton says that Big Bend Transit provided ongoing training throughout her career to ensure that she could effectively assist passengers, help with walkers or wheelchairs and keep her CPR skills up to date. She did not need a special license to drive the vans but did need to maintain a good driving record. Bruton drove routes in Madison, Taylor and Jefferson counties.
She says, "I thank God. He took me down the dangerous roads, and I never had a major accident."
One time, she remembers now with a laugh, when she was driving a new van that required a higher clearance than she was used to, the vehicle got stuck under an overhang. They had to let the air out of the tires to get it free.
Bruton would like to thank all the drivers she worked with across the three counties and her supervisor, Willie Ann Dickey, for allowing her to work for Big Bend Transit all these years.
"Along the way, I met some good people — fellow drivers and passengers," says Bruton.
Dickey says of Bruton, "She has always been a hard worker, and she will be greatly missed by Big Bend Transit and the public she served."
"The main reward was helping people," says Bruton. "You get attached to them when helping them out. It was joyful."
Nearly a month after retiring from her job, Bruton says she is starting to adjust. She doesn't have to wake up as early as she did, and she is beginning to see how to fill her days differently. Bruton is looking forward to having more time for attending and helping with church activities at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville. She wants to get back into sewing projects, and some big housekeeping tasks like cleaning out closets have moved farther up her to-do list. She likes to cook and will have more opportunities to make the dishes she's well known for, like lemon cake, the dressing for the turkey, potato salad and peach cobbler.
Buton will have more time with her family: husband Ernest Bruton, who is pastor at the New Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, and her two sons, Christopher and Bradley, both of whom she carried to a full term on the job at Big Bend Transit.
We wish you all the best in your retirement years!
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