One Suffolk school bus driver has seen a lot of sunrises since 1954.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Rutherford Ulysses Whitfield began his career when he was just 16 years old. Back then, some school districts had a student driver program.
Whitfield, now 85, said he was first recruited for the job when he was 15 by the principal at East Suffolk High School in what was then Nansemond County.
“They parked the bus in my yard,” Whitfield said. “They needed a driver for that bus, so they said ‘why not you?’”
He completed his training and passed his driver test prior to his senior year. Though he was driving his classmates, Whitfield said they never gave him any trouble.
“At that time, all grades rode one bus. The kids were good and everybody worked together. The older kids would always make sure the little kids were protected by sitting inside the seat, they would sit on the outside,” Whitfield said.
Over the years, the student driver program went away. Bus patrolmen — students assigned to leave the bus to listen at railroad tracks — did as well.
Racial segregation laws, too, ended during Whitfield’s career. Prior to Suffolk integrating schools in 1970, he did not drive white students.
Whitfield said despite the changes, his job largely remained the same.
“You just have to have patience and respect to the kids and to receive respect from them. That’s how you survive and enjoy what you’re doing,” Whitfield said.
Enjoyment is what has kept Whitfield around for so long. He fondly recalls the many road games and field trips he’s made over his 70 years, all of which are recorded in a leather-bound journal he keeps to this day.
“One time we went to George Mason University. It was a heavy, heavy snow. We were on (Interstate) 95 and we had to drive no more than 40 miles an hour all the way up to Fairfax,” he said.
Whitfield is occasionally approached by students who rode his bus over the years. He recalled one white student who became a banker shortly after integration who told him he made an impact on her.
Whitfield said sometimes it was his punishments that made an impact. He recalled running into a woman who he had sweep his bus when she was a misbehaving student under his supervision.
“And she said, ‘Mr. Whitfield, you know what? All them times you had me sweep your bus because I was naughty? I have finished college now, got my master’s, and am now a guidance counselor in Portsmouth.’ I was shocked, I was really surprised. I think she was just happy because of what I did,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield’s supervisor at Suffolk Public Schools, Jessica Allen, called it a privilege and honor to work with him.
“He has wisdom that comes with the years, and then he also has the experience so it’s kind of hard to not stand out,” Allen said.
Allen said she’s been in her position for five years after beginning her career as a teacher and has never heard of someone with Whitfield’s longevity in education.
“He’s been driving longer than my parents have been alive.”
Whitfield took some convincing to accept retirement. Though he’s officially calling it a career, he plans to be a substitute driver for the district come the fall.
