COBB COUNTY – Retirement is a career goal that many people dream about it. For a group of staff members of Cobb County School District, it is a time to celebrate and reflect on years of service helping students at second largest school system in Georgia.
When Barbara Furr turned off the engine of a big, yellow school bus for the last time recently, she ended 45 years of service to the students of the Cobb County School District.
“I was 32 years old when I started and here I am 79,” said Furr with a laugh. “It (the time) went so fast.”
She is one of one of 223 retiring employees with a combined 4,733 years of service who have provided loyal and dedicated service to the school system.
The District honored each of them recently at a retirement luncheon at Roswell Street Baptist Church.
Other long-serving employees include three people who are retiring after 35 years each: Brenda Cole, a secretary at Pickett’s Mill Elementary; Jill Dawes, School Leadership Intern at Mount Bethel Elementary; and, Debra Hughes, a teacher of special needs students in the District.
Two retirees, Barbara Duckworth, a bus driver, and Charles Raymond Davis, a Head Custodian at Harrison High School, each leave CCSD with 36 years of service.
Photos: Cobb County School District 2017 Retirees
“I have enjoyed it because I thoroughly love the kids,” said Furr, who said she began driving a bus so she could be home at the same time as her children and have the same days off.
Furr kept driving long after her children left home because “I liked getting up at five o’clock every morning and being on my bus by six-fifteen.” Her routes over 45 years primarily included Milford Elementary, Smitha Middle and Osborne High schools.
While she is not sure what she plans to do next, Furr, who will be 80 years old in August, said she is already bored.
“I miss the kids,” she said.
