Forest Hill school bus operator Bill Greene has driven generations of Harford County public school students in his half century behind the wheel

Feb. 28—Bill Greene has logged thousands of miles on Harford County roads in his 50 years behind the wheel of a school bus. The Forest Hill native has transported generations of families to and from the North Harford schools and others in the area.

Each of those trips started in the morning hours from the same small lot at his family's auto repair shop and bus lot where he grew up. Greene, who celebrated his 71st birthday in early January, said he's not ready to stop just yet.

"As of Jan. 2, I've been driving the school bus for 50 years, but I've been involved in it all my life," he said while sitting back in his office chair after completing the day's final bus run.

Glancing out at the row of yellow buses parked across from his Cooptown Road office, a short walk he has made countless times, Greene reached for an overstuffed folder sitting among the papers on his desk. Flipping it open, he revealed a trove of newspaper clippings, photos and memories of his family's business, J.A. Greene and Sons Inc. in Cooptown, a historically African American neighborhood populated by generations of a handful of families, including Greene's.

Bill Greene remembers growing up playing and working around the school buses at his father's small cinder-block garage.

"I grew up into it; it was the family business," he said. "You played around the parking lot with the buses coming and going, lawnmowers to fix and things like that, and I thought that's what I wanted to be."

Greene's grandfather, J. Aquilla Greene, was employed as a mechanic at Aberdeen Proving Ground but had the desire to start his own auto repair business in his small Forest Hill community. J.A. Greene and Sons Inc. was born in the 1940s.

Greene remembers his grandfather being urged by friend Charles St. Clair, a local bus contractor, to get into the school bus business. At that time in 1950s, black students were bused separately to the county's only two black high schools, located in Bel Air and Havre de Grace.

Seeing the opportunity and with help from St. Clair, J. Aquilla Greene secured the bid, becoming Harford's first black bus contractor, according to one of several newspaper articles stored in Greene's folder.

As a young man, Greene helped grow that business, keeping the family legacy going with the same integrity and pride he learned by example from his grandfather. Mostly involved in the auto repair shop and bus maintenance in his younger years, Greene didn't officially get behind the wheel to drive a route until getting his bus driver's license on his 21st birthday.

Greene recalled passing the exam and, upon returning to the garage, being immediately dispatched by his grandfather to fill in for a driver who was out sick. Greene didn't realize it then, but it was the beginning of his 50-year-plus journey.

While he drives all students, the high schoolers are Greene's favorite because they have been on his bus for several years.

"I have them trained now," he said, chuckling. "I've watched them grow up; they know I know their parents. So, it's pretty easy with them.

"The little kids, they're just off the hook sometimes; there's always something going on with them. They'll tell you the truth. They can make you mad, and you love them all at the same time."

Over the years, Greene continued to run the auto repair shop and keep the growing fleet of buses on the road with his sons, William III, who died about five years ago at age 45, and Brandon, helping when they could as they grew into young men. The two ventured into other things with encouragement from their father to make their own lives, knowing that the business would be there for them to fall back on.

Brandon Greene recalls helping his father in his teen years. While he spent some time in law enforcement, Brandon's roots brought him home to Forest Hill where he opened his auto detailing business, Mean Greene Mobile Car Wash, about 12 years ago.

"As a teenager, I had to clean the buses every year for the big inspection before school started. We take a lot of pride in our buses, so he had me out there detailing all those buses, top to bottom, by hand. I lost a lot of friends some summers," Brandon said, shaking his head with a laugh, while his dad laughed along in the background.

"They thought, 'Great, we're gonna get paid this amount to wash some buses,' not realizing how much work was involved before they got paid," Brandon Greene said. "That's no joke. My buddies were like, 'I'm not doing this anymore; can I just cash out for the day?' These days we knock it out pretty quick, but it started right here."

Brandon Greene credits those summers of hard work and growing up around the shop, much like his father, for his work ethic and devotion to family. Those values were learned from the example set by his father, great-grandfather and others in his life.

"Many people don't even get to meet their great-grandparents," Brandon Greene said. "I was lucky that I was able to work beside my great-grandfather every day. I got to talk to him and watch the way he handled customers and treated people. He showed me how to use my mind and think about what I was doing."

Though the basic style and classic yellow school bus color haven't changed much over Greene's 50 years of driving, things like GPS and other advancements have changed the job a bit.

"The size of the buses, the equipment on them, a lot of changes," Greene said, reaching to start the GPS system before heading out on his run on a recent afternoon.

Greene has admittedly slowed down a bit in the past few years, selling most of his 14-bus fleet to another local bus company owned by Bob Livezey, a friend who has become like family. The buses remain at Greene's garage because they are manifested to Greene's lot, but Greene said the arrangement works for everyone.

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"He's [Livezey] got a key to the shop," Bill Greene said. "If he needs anything, we help each other out. That's just what we do. He's really become like family." ,

Greene recalled when he contracted COVID and was worrying about getting his bus ready. "Bob called me and said it was all taken care of," Greene said.

Greene said he wanted to keep one bus to stay busy. He shared no intention to stop anytime soon. With the fleet of buses remaining at Greene's lot, he still sees some of the drivers who worked for him as they gather for their runs each day.

Helen Gontasz drove for Greene for about 24 years.

"Our kids went through school together so we knew each other. Bill was great to work for," Gontasz said playfully, nudging Greene with a smile.

Greene continues to work in the auto repair shop as well. He services vehicles for customers who have been coming to Greene's Garage since he was that small boy following his grandfather around. While the fleet has shrunk and he's getting into a comfortable pace, he's making more time to step back and enjoy life.

J.A. Greene and Sons Inc. continues to operate with the same founding honesty and integrity from the small garage in Cooptown that holds the history of one man's vision to help his neighbors and be a part of his community.