Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Maurice Daniels delivers more than 60 children to school then back home again.
The 60-year-old driver says he enjoys the job because he gets to see the smiles and hear the laughter of the students in his care. He speaks of them as if they were his own, which makes sense, because some of his earliest memories are helping to provide for his brothers and sisters.
One of 13 children, Daniels grew up near Elizabeth City, N.C., and helped support his family by picking vegetables.
“All of us kids did,” he said. “It was just something we all had to do. When you have a big family, you have to work.” Maurice and all his brothers and sisters would pick tomatoes, beans and potatoes, anything to help put food on the table. The gentle giant does not dwell on the difficulties of his childhood; it was just part of life, not bad or good.
“My momma never let us use anything as a crutch,” he said. “We never used excuses.”
When Maurice was about 7, his two older brothers moved to Milford, where an aunt lived. “There were just no jobs in North Carolina,” Daniels said.
About two months later, the entire Daniels family moved to Milford. It was 1953. Daniels said his family was surprised to find that the north was as segregated as the south.
“When we got to Delaware, we were lower than dirt,” he said. “My older brothers had to fight to get respect.”
But his mother found work at a cannery, and the family started to put down roots.
When he arrived in Milford, schools in Sussex County were segregated, so Daniels attended Milton Colored School, a small, one-story building that now serves as a day-care center.
“It was shock,” he said. “In North Carolina, I was used to big schools, and that one was so small.”
Other forms of segregation also took him by surprise. “In the south, you expect it,” he said. “I still remember one time I went to a soda fountain that was next to the Salvation Army in Milford. I went in and ordered something to eat and drink. Then somebody came up and said I couldn’t eat or drink outside.”
Daniels said there was restaurant that allowed blacks to eat, but only outside in the back. “And the theater in Milford, the black people had to sit in the top.”
“My mom had a house built for her,” he said. “She didn’t want to pay rent to anyone anymore.” He said she was one of the few black families to have a new house built for them. “That shook some people up.”
Daniels said his father, Garfield Weldon Daniels, was a former longshoreman who struggled to overcome the barriers of past generations. “He came up in a time when you couldn’t get education,” Daniels said.
“When he passed in 1985, everybody knew him and respected him.” Daniels paused a moment, staring outside. “I got to really love that man.”
Daniels’ mother, Daisy V. Daniels, will turn 89 this year. She still takes care of herself and lives in the area, he said.
Daniels has been married to his wife, Charmaine, for 26 years. She works as a certified nursing assistant at Genesis ElderCare in Milford.
Together they raised three children, Keith, Maurice and Christol, and are now raising two grandchildren, Rashawn, 13, and Joshua, 9.
So there are still bicycles in their yard and video games playing on the television.
Daniels retired from his civilian job at Dover Air Force Base in 1994, and he started driving a school bus almost right away.
He did not want another boss, he said.
A few years after driving for another contractor, Maurice bought his own bus and is now a one-person contractor. He drives for the Cape Henlopen School District. His route is in the Milton area.
But on many days, his job goes far beyond driving the bus.
“A little girl got sick, like you do sometimes,” he said. “So I took her off the bus and cleaned her off as best I could. Then I cleaned off the seat and stuff. She was real upset. When she got back on, I made sure she found a seat OK and that no one gave her a hard time.”
He said the face of the upset girl stayed with him. “All day today I’ve been thinking about that little one. I try to put myself in her shoes, and understand how she feels. I hope she’s feeling better.”
Daniels feels that driving a school bus is much more than just sitting behind the wheel.
“When I drop off the kids, the real little ones, and no one is there to pick them up, I’m not going to let them get off the bus. I’m not going to just leave them along the road.”
So Daniels will deviate from his route and drive to the child’s home. “I’ll go up and knock on their door. I want to make sure someone is home.”
He said he wants parents to relax when their children step on the bus. “I want parents to know that when their little ones are on the Number 13 bus with Mr. Daniels that kids are safe.”
