After 42 Years, School Bus Driver Runs Last Route

For 42 years, as Moorestown children trooped off to school, Dorothy Kube often was the first person they saw from the district in the morning and the last they saw in the afternoon.

That long tradition is over, as Kube closed the door on her career as a Moorestown school bus driver this year. She retired as the longest serving bus driver in the district by far—the second longest driver has 23 years with Moorestown schools.

But if students hear that Mrs. Kube won’t drive them to and from school come fall, most are likely to ask, “Who?”

“All of the kids on the school bus used to call me Myrtle,” Kube says with a chuckle. “When I first started 42 years ago, I was new to the area, so I was driving very slowly, trying to find the streets. The kids were reading a book at that time, Myrtle the Turtle. They said, ‘Oh she’s just like Myrtle the turtle, she’s going so slow!’”

That name stuck and, over the years, transformed from a joke to a moniker Kube embraced. It got to the point that Kube would introduce herself to new children with her real name, but advise them: “Just call me Myrtle.”

Kube arrived in Moorestown schools by happenstance. A single mom to two, she was relocating from Hightstown to Pennsauken, and her supervisor knew Moorestown’s transportation head.

“It was 1969, and I’ve been here ever since,” Kube says. “It was just supposed to be a part-time job, but I really liked it. I just kept going and going and going.”

Moorestown’s supervisor of transportation, Rita Martynowski, says Kube provided a “core” for her fellow drivers and students alike.

“She was the first person most students saw each day besides their families,” Martynowski says. “And when that person greets you with a smile, it makes a huge difference. It can absolutely change someone’s day.”

“Myrtle” safeguarded generations of Moorestown children during her tenure. The students she first drove to school in 1969 grew up and had children Kube shuttled.

“And then those children had children, so I’ve had grandchildren from the first kids I drove,” Kube says.

Moorestown students had plenty of time to get to know Kube, as she kept the same route for the past 25-plus years. Like other drivers, she had six runs daily—to the high school, Upper Elementary School and Baker in the morning and then back again in the afternoon. Several years ago, she also picked up a kindergarten run around lunchtime.

As she gets used to retirement, Kube reflects on her many years with Moorestown. Some things changed drastically.

“When I started, the town was small. The newest development then was North Riding, and so much of the town was peach trees and apple trees. Now, it’s big homes and a golf course,” says Kube.

Other changes worked on a cycle. Over the years, Kube remained amazed at how students who started kindergarten sobbing and missing their parents grew into confident high schoolers who would chat her up about their day, landing the part in the school play or updating her on the school’s sports teams.

But one thing never changed.

“The bus song has always been, ‘Three cheers for the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver,’” she sings.

Even though she has heard the song for decades, you get the sense that Kube loves it, and loves the children she took care of over the years.

“On my last day, it was so crowded outside of Baker that I had to park across the street,” she says. “They had to walk the kids over and get them across the street. But it gave me time to give each of them a hug as they boarded.”

With retirement finally here, Kube is still figuring out her next move. She did have one goal—to get a puppy. And fluffy white cockapoo Bailey recently joined the household.

Kube also cares for a lush garden at her home. A new addition includes a rose bush given by a Moorestown family on her retirement.

“I’ll think of them, and of Moorestown, every time I look at it,” Kube says.