RIP Andrew Branch: His driving school taught 800,000 people in Syracuse to drive

Andrew Branch instilled hard work at a young age.

His father, Andrew Sr., worked at the Geddes Street Railroad yards, moving trains and locomotives, while his mother, Ethel, worked as a cleaner at Crouse Irving Hospital in Syracuse, where she saved old newspapers.

After a few weeks, she had her son pull the baby’s stroller up the hill from their home in old 15th division collect the papers, then arrange them in the garage and sell them to a junk dealer later.

“She saved that money and used it,” Branch told former Post-Standard columnist Dick Case in 2006, “to buy a house, a four-family house on Thomas Street.”

“It taught me that you can’t do anything unless you see something,” he said.

Branch died on September 19 in Camden, South Carolina at the age of 91.

His family will hold a memorial service in his hometown on Saturday, November 9 at 11:00 Hopps Memorial Church CME1110 South State Street, Syracuse.

The website will remember the city’s success story.

Andrew Branch was born on July 28, 1933 in Syracuse. He was the seventh child in a family of nine.

He attended Nottingham High School and excelled in academics and athletics. Post-Standard archives say he excelled in the 100- and 220-yard dashes and the long jump.

In November 1952, he was elected president of his senior class. His son, Deraux, said that at the time, a black student did not receive such an honor.

“Our senior group is the last graduating class Nottingham is currently in use”he said in an impromptu speech after the election. “Let’s make this last year in our current school home a memorable one.”

After graduating, he married his high school sweetheart, Fanny Burroughs. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea.

After returning to Syracuse, he studied microbiology at Syracuse University on the GI Bill.

In 1957, he was 24, a father of two, a full-time student, working 25 hours a week as a janitor in an off-campus apartment building, and in his free time he ran track for the Orange.

In his second year of college, when his busy schedule prevented him from training with the team, the coach gave him an ultimatum: train more often or leave the team.

“So I quit my job,” he said in 1991. “I gave the person in the locker room my sweats, changed my shoes and walked two and a half miles to work.”

After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, he worked as a pharmacology research technician at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Fanny taught elementary school in the Syracuse school district.

He and Fanny had three more children.

Branch’s life changed forever in 1959 when his mother Ethel bought a brand new Cadillac.

“But she couldn’t do it,” he told The Post-Standard in 2003. “I took it upon myself to teach her how to drive.”

Then he taught his sister.

“I thought, if I have to do this,” he thought, “I should get paid.”

In 1963, while still working as a pharmacology research technician, he started a driving school in Branch using a Ford Falcon and borrowing $800 from his mother.

As The Post-Standard reported in 2004, it was one of the first Black-owned businesses in Syracuse and perhaps one of the most successful.

Eventually, the driving school grew to a dozen locations, a fleet of seven vehicles, and a staff of 22 who lovingly referred to the department as “Mr. B.”

When opening a business during the civil rights movement, Branch encountered difficulties because of the color of his skin.

“People felt (racism) only in the South,” he recalled in 2003. “But we had it here too. Being a minority, it was difficult to start a business. The day I got my driving license (to run a driving school), I drove down the street with my sign and was followed by the police chief.

Many local insurance companies refused to cover his activities.

“I was the first minority to start a school like this in Syracuse,” he said in 2006. “I had no guidance or role model. I had to find out for myself how to start a business, and I did it.”

His son Deraux, who took over the company in 1995, started helping with the books and records when he was 14 years old.

“I’m a numbers guy,” he said last week. He built a database showing that between 1963 and 2017, Branch driving schools taught approximately 800,000 new drivers.

They taught older, novice drivers, especially widows who always relied on their husbands for transportation, and immigrants.

“I’m really proud that we’ve worked with people all over the world,” Branch once said. “Some have never driven a car before.”

He employed a diverse staff and was able to communicate with people from all over the world.

“My dad taught himself French and Italian by watching TV. He took Spanish in high school,” Deraux said. “He even spoke a little Arabic and knew the words ‘left’, ‘right’, ‘stop’ and ‘go’.

Deraux said some Arab men felt uncomfortable when their wives were alone in the car with the instructor. They often sat in the backseat during lessons. Branch calmed them down by talking to them in Arabic.

Branch Driving School had a contract to teach driving lessons in Syracuse schools for several years and had offices in Shoppingtown and the Great Northern Mall.

In 1995, when asked what his philosophy was for running a successful business, Branch replied:

“Make sure you treat the customer right. Provide good service to your customers because they are the backbone of your business. If the customer is happy, you can continue your business.”

Branch served on the boards of Housing Visions and Centro and was elected president of the Central City Business Association. He and his staff volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

Before moving to South Carolina, he was an active member of Hopps Memorial CME Church. For many years he served as treasurer of the church, as well as the Governing Council and People’s Services.

In 1989, at the age of 56, he returned to the track and started running again for the first time since working at SU.

He competed in several Empire Senior Games and won medals in the 100 and 800 meters.

“I had the opportunity to show not only my children, but also my grandchildren, how I did it,” he said in 1991.

Andrew Branch is survived by his wife of 69 years, Fanny, three sons, Charles “Chuck” Branch, Todd Branch (Cindy) of Syracuse and Deraux of South Carolina, one daughter, Della “DeeDee” Branch Bullock (Paul), sisters Louise Walker, Ethelmae Dunham, Mamie Rhodafox and Eva Dixon, nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins ​​and friends.

His daughter Teresa Branch died in 2011.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the family may be sent to Della Branch Bullock at 436 Thurber St., Syracuse, NY 13210 or at Cashapp in $DellaBranchBullock.