Born and raised in Rocky Mount, Shelia “Cookie” Lawson now lives in Woolwine, where for 50 years, she has served Woolwine Elementary School as a bus driver. Nobody knows where the name “Cookie” came from. Her sister Bonnie Smith explains that Cookie was just what her mom always called her.
“She loved to work in the yard with our dad,” Smith says. “Loved getting on the tractor. She preferred helping him on the farm over housework.”
Their dad raised hogs, and Cookie would help with butchering.
“We’d be standing in the snow about to freeze to death cutting up meat,” Smith said. After graduating from Franklin County High School, Cookie enjoyed racing in powderpuff derbies. She went to work in Bassett, where she met her husband, Ed, who also liked to race on dirt tracks. After marriage, the couple built a house close to Fairy Stone State Park.
Lawson began working in the cafeteria at Woolwine Elementary School when her sons were young, and she was able to have them with her. She started driving a school bus for extra money, and when her sons were in school, she stopped working in the cafeteria but kept driving. According to her niece, Martha Holloway, Cookie can “back that bus on a dime.
“She’s a strict bus driver, but the kids like her,” Holloway said. “She’s very attentive to them and their parents.”
“Throughout her five decades of service, Mrs. Lawson has not only transported our students safely to and from school but has also become an enduring figure in the lives of many,” Woolwine Elementary Principal Jeannie King Hubbard said. “Her warm smile, genuine kindness, and unwavering commitment to the well-being of our students have made her a cherished member of our school family.”
Lawson’s character shines both on and off the bus. Outside of work, she remains involved in the community. She loves her church, Christian Faith Baptist Church in Ferrum. She’s part of the choir, cans food, and works out in the yard.
“She’s a very Christian woman,” Holloway said. “She tries to help take care of her neighbors.”
Lawson made fried apple pies for years for the nursing home and others. If she found out someone was in need, she would try to find a way to help them with food and clothes, but she’s always tried to do it discreetly without bringing attention to herself. Her husband, Ed, worked with the fire department for 45 years, and Cookie helped plan monthly games with small prizes for the community. She also never meets a stranger.
“We’d be at the hospital waiting on somebody, and she would, you know, be talking to all the people asking who they were, and we’d say she was being nosy!” Smith said. “She’d do anything for anybody.” She helped tend to their mom when she had cancer, and “she cleaned and cooked for Dad until he passed away. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s just a kind person, and you can count on her.”
After fifty years, Lawson has decided that it’s time to retire. She’s watched two, and in some cases, three generations of children pass through Woolwine Elementary School.
“Mrs. Lawson was my bus driver when I was a student at WES many years ago, and I always knew she loved and cared for me, and that carried over into my life as an adult,” King Hubbard said. “Although this is Cookie’s last school year driving a bus, her impact will continue to be felt.
She added “here are 50 words for 50 years that describe our incredible bus driver, Mrs. Lawson: Dedicated, reliable, caring, cheerful, patient, punctual, friendly, compassionate, safety-focused, dependable, experienced, beloved, supportive, trustworthy, positive, nurturing, community-oriented, understanding, respected, diligent, kind-hearted, committed, personable, warm, reliable, skilled, accommodating, cheerful, amiable, considerate, dependable, punctual, trustworthy, patient, supportive, beloved, diligent, safety-conscious, friendly, experienced, caring, professional, reassuring, positive, cooperative, seasoned, outstanding, reliable, remarkable, dedicated, loyal, and valued.”
Congratulations Cookie!! Those kids will certainly miss you!