Much-Honored Winston-Salem Bus Driver Dies at Age 86

Clark Campbell, a member of TWU Local 248 and a bus driver in Winston- Salem, North Carolina for 62 years, died December 30. He was 86.

In March 2007, the city’s transportation center was named in his honor.

Campbell took a job at the Safe Bus Company in Winston- Salem during WWII. After two years on the job, veterans returning home from the war displaced Campbell as a mechanic. Faced with a layoff slip or a position as a Bus Operator, he chose driving and soon discovered that he loved it. At the time the transportation center was renamed, Campbell estimated that he logged more than three million miles behind the wheel. Although he officially retired in 1992, he continued driving part-time until 2006.

Campbell remained on the active driver list until he died, the Winston-Salem Transit Authority said in a statement.

“It is difficult to express in words what Mr. Campbell meant to the WSTA,” said Art Barnes, the transit authority’s general manager. “Mr. Campbell’s passing marks the end of an era at WSTA.”

Although Campbell was unable to attend the renaming ceremony in 2007, his family, friends and local officials were out in force. TWU International Rep. J.W. Johnson was among the speakers.

The center was the first building in downtown Winston- Salem to be named for anAfrican-American. The flag at Campbell Transportation Center was flown at half-staff on the day of his funeral.

During the 2007 ceremony, Campbell’s wife Christine recalled his devotion to the job. “Clark loves this company and everybody in it. You are all his family, just as much as these are his family,” she said pointing to a section with his five children and numerous grandchildren.

State Rep. Larry Womble, who spearheaded the drive to rename the center, said, “To many of us, he was a parent, a friend, a guardian and an angel.”