ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702170051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
ZEB POINDEXTER used to greet his beloved Roanoke bus passengers with ``Come on in the house.'' Some enjoyed being around the driver so much that they'd come aboard without a destination, just for the ride. He died Friday.
Back in the '40s and '50s, when few Roanokers owned automobiles, many relied on streetcar and bus drivers like Zeb Poindexter to deliver them to and fro.
Poindexter, who at 19 started a 47-year career in transportation, died Friday. He was 73.
This devoted family man, who put four children through Roanoke Catholic School, loved to drive buses - not so much for the ride, but for the riders.
Jerry Guzi, a Roanoke computer consultant who went to school with Poindexter's sons, rode Poindexter's bus regularly one summer. While home from college in the 1960s, checking meters for the gas company, he often took the bus to make his rounds.
``He would welcome people aboard no matter their age, race or gender,'' Guzi said. He found it remarkable how Poindexter interacted with his passengers.
To people waiting at the stop, Poindexter would call out: ``Come on in the house,'' Guzi said. Riding his bus ``was just like being in his house.''
``It was like a family,'' said John Poindexter, Poindexter's oldest son. The same people rode the bus most of the time, so they really got to know each other.
One woman told John she remembers how unhappy the other passengers were when she bought a 1955 Ford and stopped riding the bus. She had been a member of the family.
When Poindexter's fourth child and only daughter, Teresa, was born in 1967, the passengers on his Grandin Court-Burrell Memorial route considered having a baby shower on the bus, but decided the Safety Motor Transit Corp., the private company that then owned what is now Valley Metro, might not like that.
One of the passengers, Martin Orndorff, was a writer for this newspaper, and he wrote a column about the birth headlined ``Zeb and the City Bus Named Desire.''
``Zeb's bus is really a social club on wheels, and often the passengers are not going anywhere in particular,'' Orndorff wrote. ``A lot of them are doing nothing more than riding to the end of the line and back just for the sociability and for talking to Zeb and their fellow passengers.
``Zeb is the sort of outgoing person who makes people want to talk, even the most reserved and timid. Zeb knows just about everything there is to be known about the personal habits and concerns of his regular patrons because they like to confide in him.''
By all accounts, Poindexter treated his passengers well. He let his elderly passengers off at their doorsteps so they would not have to carry their shopping bags for a block. He often stopped at Clover Creamery downtown for ice cream.
When a new person started riding his bus, Poindexter always introduced them to the regulars.
In 1967, an 8-year-old regular passenger, Douglas Poff, had to undergo eye surgery at Gill Memorial Hospital around Easter time, and Poindexter did his best to cheer him up.
Poindexter had grown close to the boy, whose father was an Air Force officer stationed on Okinawa, because the boy usually sat behind him and chatted all the way to a special class for the visually handicapped. Douglas asked Poindexter to attend several school functions in his father's place.
Poindexter mentioned to some passengers that he'd like to do something to lift the boy's spirits. One man made a basket to hold all the gifts, but it soon overflowed. One woman baked and decorated an egg-shaped cake, and others brought games, candy, eggs and money.
``I had no idea they would be so touched and go to such a lot of trouble,'' Poindexter said in a Roanoke World-News story. ``It just goes to show that people can be pretty wonderful when somebody needs a little extra help and attention.''
Roy Meador, director of maintenance for Valley Metro who worked with him for many years, said Poindexter's dedication extended to his colleagues and the bus system itself.
Poindexter started driving streetcars for the Roanoke Railway and Electric Co. in 1942 after serving in the Army. At 19, he was too young to drive buses.
He drove streetcars and eventually buses until the streetcars were retired in 1948, Meador said. Poindexter stayed with the company as it changed hands a couple of times and helped smooth the transition from private company to public bus system.
Poindexter never missed a day of work for illness in 47 years, his youngest son, Tim, said. He rode his bike the 10 or 12 miles to work if he couldn't get his car out in the snow.
On those snowy mornings, Poindexter often set out at 3 a.m. to check the bus routes and find out which ones were passable, Meador said.
``He cared about the drivers and the public, too.''
Poindexter rose through the ranks to become director of transportation, safety and personnel. After he retired from Valley Metro in 1989 he missed the people, Tim Poindexter said.
``He loved his passengers, he loved his family, and he loved the Roanoke Valley.''
Poindexter is survived by his wife, Mary, their two sons, John and Tim, and their daughter, Teresa, all of whom live in Roanoke. A third son, Dennis, died several years ago. Poindexter's funeral will be held at noon Tuesday at St. Andrew's Catholic Church.
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Family photo. When Zeb Poindexter started at 19 as aby CNBcity mass transit driver in 1942, he could take the controls of only
the streetcars because he was too young for the buses. He retired in
1989. 2. (headshot) Poindexter.