Saturday, May 20, 2000
Sibling bus drivers retiring
Both have more than 25 years of service
By Terry Flynn
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The Greene sisters, Pat and Gaye, have always been more that just siblings born 15 months apart; they're buddies and best friends.
It came as no surprise to anyone who knew them that they would eventually have the same job, in this case driving buses for the Campbell County School District.
Now the sisters — married and with grandchildren — have decided to retire, Pat Wolf after 27 years of driving and younger sister Gaye Schack with 26 years behind the wheel.
“I've spent 26 years on the same route,” Mrs. Schack, 60, said. “The reason I got this route is I live right in the middle and I could take my kids with me to school. I have grandchildren in the school system now, and once in a while they were on my bus.”
Mrs. Wolf, 62, started driving a school bus a year before her sister and was instrumental in putting Mrs. Schack in the driver's seat.
“She (Mrs. Wolf) got me the job,” Mrs. Schack explained. “At the time, we were both raising families and we both needed a second income. This was a way we could be with our kids and earn some money.”
Mrs. Schack said she has seen many second generations of Campbell County families on her bus, and has even carried three generations of one family. “I call all the kids who ride on the bus my kids,” she said.
Mrs. Wolf said she and her sister “have been buddies all our lives. We're best friends. I encouraged her to ride with me during that first year, and when she got her (commercial) license I let her drive my bus a couple of times at the end of the day after taking all the kids home.”
A typical day for a Campbell County school bus driver, according to Mrs. Schack, is leaving the house at 6:05 a.m. for the first round of pickups, then returning home by 8:45 a.m. The kindergarten run starts at 10:30 a.m. and then it's back home by noon. Then there's the afternoon run beginning at 1:30 p.m. and it's back home by 4:30 p.m.
“It's worked great for me,” she said. “I've had time to get things done around the house and spend lots of time with my kids. And Campbell County schools are good people to work for.”
So what's next for the bus-driving grandmothers?
“I have eight grandchildren, and I'll enjoy them for a while,” Mrs. Schack said. “My husband (Clarence) is a retired truck driver. We've both been on the road. Now we can both take it easy.”
Are there any travel plans?
“Travel? Heavens no,” Mrs. Wolf said with a laugh. “My husband (George, but everybody calls him Junior) doesn't like to fly, and he doesn't really like to drive much. Gaye's husband doesn't like to spend much time away from home, either.”
Mrs. Wolf said the job of a school bus driver “is a big responsibility, but we've enjoyed it. And we're both going to renew our CDLs (commercial driver's licenses) for next year, just in case.”
Colon cancer vaccine ready to test
Student graduates in hospital
Again: A fatal crash and a stricken school
Taft signs ban on some late-term abortions
'Average Joe' robs Clermont bank
Fairfield official indicted on fraud
Findlay project gets $250,000 gift
Petition dispute a lesson in civics
RAMSEY: School funding is one hot potato
Slain police officers honored at memorial service
'Son of Beast' closed for third weekend
TV ads called loophole
Ky. to see Bush, Gore often
N.Ky. primary is one-office race
Other candidates on ballot, like it or not
Appeal rejected in Officer Partin's death
Newport looks at race book
Schools look for new chief
Schools to move off tainted site
Cancer report led to probe
Get to it
May Festival gets off to glorious start
Pig Parade: Sow's It Goin' . . . Cincinnati!
Suspect in fatal DUI returns to Mexico
Teen faces weapons charge
Teen held on suspicion of poisoning drinks
Tristate Digest
Around the Commonwealth
Covington teachers get raises
Dozens charged after wild party
Fairfield schools hire new athletic director
Girl, 14, suspended for threatening letter
Man guilty of raping girl, 11
Middletown will survey residents about parks
Mission: To bring Hamilton business
Orchestra listens to critics of new name
OSU strike appears ended
Phys ed shunted aside in curriculum changes
S. Lebanon man pleads guilty in Jan. shooting
School digs up the past
Senate hopeful wants divorce of religion, politics
Sibling bus drivers retiring
Slaying still juvenile case, Wehrung lawyers say
Software maker heads to Deerfield
