[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16621-16622]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MR. DELMER GROSS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
outstanding Kentuckian who dedicated his life to serving the children 
of Laurel County. Mr. Delmer Gross was a bus driver for the Laurel 
County Board of Education for 39 years and cherishes his memories 
driving kids to and from school--many of his former students are his 
good friends still to this day. In his spare time, Delmer serves as the 
pastor at London Community Church, a role he has enjoyed for almost 43 
years.
  Delmer started driving a school bus in 1969 when he was only 21 years 
old. He spent 5 years driving a double route as his first assignment. 
Each morning he would start by busing students in grades 1 through 12 
to Swiss Colony. Then he would go to Mitchell Creek, located west of 
Interstate 75, and pick up elementary school students, only to return 
them to Swiss Colony via the road that is now Ky. 1956.
  His second route took him all the way down to Rockcastle River and 
was much more dangerous because of the truck traffic. ``We didn't have 
a four-lane road then,'' Delmer recalls. ``There were a lot of crooked 
places where I had to pick up kids on the opposite side of a curve. 
I've had trucks slide at me sideways. A couple of times it was quite 
frightening.'' Delmer drove this route for almost 24 years before he 
began driving a town route with special-needs students in 1997.
  One time, Delmer was driving on Ky. 1956 through freezing rain and 
snow and made a stop just under the crest of a hill. Two girls got off 
the bus just before a car came over the hill and barely stopped in 
time. Unfortunately, a second car came along and was unable to stop. It 
crashed into the back of the first, sending the car spinning into a 
driveway. The second car bounced into Delmer's lane as a result of the 
crash and hit the bus head-on, clipping one of the girls in the knee. 
Delmer went straight home, got in his car, and drove over to the little 
girl's house to help her father take her to the hospital. Thankfully, 
she walked away with only minor injuries.
  Delmer deeply cherishes the countless memories that he made with the 
students he shuttled throughout his three-decade-long career, and he 
rarely had any disciplinary issues with any of the children. ``I had a 
good relationship with almost all of the students I hauled,'' Delmer 
said.
  Madam President, Mr. Delmer Gross's dedication to his job and the 
safety of his students is admirable. I commend him for his 39 years of 
excellent service to the children of Laurel County schools. Delmer's 
career serves as an inspiration to the people of our great Commonwealth 
and exemplifies the true spirit of Kentucky. The Laurel County-area 
Sentinel Echo published an article in the spring of this year to honor 
Mr. Delmer Gross's achievements. I ask unanimous consent that the full 
article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

                 [From the Sentinel Echo, Spring 2011]

                  Driving a Bus Is No Laughing Matter

                            (By Carol Mills)

       Delmer Gross loved being a bus driver for the Laurel County 
     Board of Education for 39 years, but he saw the behavior of 
     students getting worse over the years.
       ``The last 15 years the students have been getting 
     progressively worse,'' he said. ``Less respect for adults, 
     less respect for authority. You had several that were pushing 
     their boundaries. I see the attitudes of children, the 
     discipline and behavior is a much greater problem than it was 
     20 years ago. It's becoming a problem in all public places. 
     Kids don't have parents who really discipline them. As adults 
     they have major problems with society. They weren't taught 
     respect, weren't forced to respect and it's showing.''
       Gross said the Bible teaches ``to spare the rod we hate our 
     child.'' ``I don't think we get much smarter than the man who 
     said that,'' he said. ``In his day he was the wisest man that 
     ever lived. Solomon wrote all those proverbs that are 
     recorded in the Bible.''
       Gross did not have many disciplinary problems with the 
     students on the bus and when he did, he usually handled them 
     himself.
       Gross, now 64, started driving a school bus in 1969 when he 
     was 21 years old. He also painted houses between routes and 
     has been the pastor at London Community Church for almost 43 
     years.

[[Page 16622]]

       ``I had a double route, which most drivers did,'' Gross 
     recalled. ``I left this community and went to the next 
     community which is White Oak. I transported all of the 
     children first through 12th grade to Swiss Colony and then I 
     would drop all of the kids and go to Mitchell Creek, which is 
     back by Interstate 75 just on the west side of 75. Then I 
     would go through that community and would pick up just 
     elementary kids and bring them back on what was old Route 80 
     at the time. It's (Ky.) 1956 now. I would run that route from 
     Interstate 75 along with Mitchell Creek and transport them 
     back to Swiss Colony. I did that for a short time.''
       Gross drove the White Oak route for five years and then he 
     let someone else take it over who lived in that community. He 
     then took a dangerous route on Old Ky. 80.
       ``It was a very dangerous route because of the truck 
     traffic. We didn't have a four-lane road then,'' he said. ``I 
     drove all the way down to the Rockcastle River. I drove that 
     route for 23 or 24 years. There were a lot of crooked places 
     where I had to pick up kids on the opposite side of a curve. 
     I've had trucks slide at me sideways. A couple of times it 
     was quite frightening.''
       In 1997, Gross started driving a town route with special-
     needs students. He said it was not as hectic as driving a 
     route with all the age groups.
       Over the years while driving a school bus, Gross had two or 
     three minor accidents and one that could have been very 
     dangerous.
       ``It was a day in March. It would snow and then it would 
     melt, then freeze and then snow some more, melt and freeze,'' 
     he recalled. ``The officials kept an eye on most of the main 
     roads, but just about 3 o'clock it started freezing and 
     snowing. I picked up a load at South High School and came to 
     (Ky.) 1956. I made a stop just under the crest of a hill, 
     probably 150 to 200 yards away. A car came over the hill just 
     after I dropped off two girls. The car stopped in time. 
     Another car came over the crest and when she braked, she hit 
     the little car in the rear end and spun it around and pushed 
     it back into a driveway.''
       ``One of the girls managed to run across the road and over 
     to the edge of a bank,'' he continued. ``The car that caused 
     all of this bounced off that little car and into my lane and 
     hit my bus head on and went underneath the bus. The other 
     girl who had gotten off the bus was clipped on the knee by 
     the car that caused the accident. She only had a minor 
     injury. The drivers of the two cars weren't hurt. I thought 
     both girls were going to be pinned between my bus and the 
     car.''
       Gross said the officer who worked the accident did not 
     mandate the girl who was hurt be taken to the hospital to be 
     checked out.
       ``I was quite surprised after it was all over and when I 
     went home, I called back to the child's home and I took my 
     little car and waited until her father got home from work and 
     we took her to the hospital.''
       One of Gross's memorable moments on the bus route was the 
     day two boys were cutting up and joking. They were sitting up 
     front so that he could keep an eye on them.
       ``They were cutting up quite a bit, joking, teasing and 
     laughing,'' Gross said. ``That didn't bother me. I was 
     listening to them. One of them said something kind of funny. 
     I thought I could be cute so I said something I thought 
     topped what he had said. He looked at his little buddy--they 
     were both elementary kids--`Tell you what,' he said, 5,000 
     comedians in this country out of a job and look what we're 
     stuck with.' I got so tickled I didn't even try to top that 
     line.''
       ``I had a good relationship with almost all of the students 
     I hauled,'' Gross added. ``A lot of the older age groups are 
     grown up now and are good friends of mine.''
       Gross is married to Yvonne and they have three children--
     Suzanne Gray, Cheryl Winters, and Delmer Paul Gross.

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