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

Hard work was instilled into Andrew Branch at an early age.
His father, Andrew Sr., worked at the Geddes Street railroad yards, moving trains and engines while his mother, Ethel, worked housekeeping at Syracuse’s Crouse Irving Hospital where she saved old newspapers.
After a few weeks, she had her son pull his child’s wagon up a hill from their home in the old 15th Ward to collect the papers and then stack them in the garage to sell later to a junk dealer.
“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.”
“That taught me you can’t do things unless you see things,” he said.
Branch passed away on Sept. 19 in Camden, South Carolina at the age of 91.
His family is holding a Memorial Service in his hometown on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. at Hopps Memorial CME Church, 1110 South State Street, Syracuse.
The service will remember a city 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 science and track and field. The Post-Standard’s archives report that he excelled in the 100-and 220-yard dash and broad jump.
In November 1952, he was elected president of his senior class. His son, Deraux, said it was a rare thing at that time for a Black student to earn such an honor.
“Our senior group is the last graduating class from Nottingham now in use,” he said in an impromptu speech after his election. “Let’s make the last year in our present school home a memorable one.”
After graduating, he married his high school sweetheart, Fanny Burroughs. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Korea.
Upon his return to Syracuse, he attended Syracuse University, studying microbiology, on the G.I. Bill.
In 1957, he was 24 years old, father of two, a full-time student, worked 25 hours a week as a janitor at an off-campus apartment building, and ran track for the Orange in his spare time.
During his sophomore year, when his hectic schedule prevented him from practicing with the team, his coach gave him an ultimatum: practice more often or quit the team.
“So, I quit,” he said in 1991. “I gave the person in the locker room my track shoes, changed shoes and walked two-and-a-half miles to work.”
After graduating with a B.S., he worked as a pharmacological research technician at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Fanny taught elementary school for 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 could not drive it a lick,” 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 to myself, if I have to be doing this,” he thought, “I should be getting paid.”
In 1963, while still working as a Pharmacological research technician, he started Branch’s Driving School with a Ford Falcon and $800 borrowed from his mother.
It was one of the first Black-owned businesses in Syracuse, The Post-Standard said in 2004, and perhaps one of its most successful.
Eventually, the driving school grew to more than a dozen locations, a fleet of seven vehicles, and a staff of 22 who lovingly called Branch “Mr. B.”
Opening amid the civil rights movement, Branch’s faced difficulties because of his skin color.
“People felt [racism] like was only in the South,” he remembered in 2003. “But we had it here, too. It was hard to start a business as a minority. The day I got my license (to operate a driving school), I drove down the street with my sign and I got followed by the chief of police.”
Many local insurance companies refused to cover his business.
“I was the first minority to start a school like this in Syracuse,” he said in 2006. “I had no guidance, no role model. I had to investigate myself how to start a business and I did.”
His son Deraux, who took over the business in 1995, began helping with the books and ledgers when he was 14 years old.
“I’m a numbers person,” he said last week. He built a database that figures that from 1963 to 2017, Branch’s Driving Schools taught roughly 800,000 new drivers.
They taught older, first-time drivers, especially widows who had always relied on their husbands for transportation, and immigrants.
“What I am really proud of is that we have worked with people all over the world,” Branch once said. “Some that have never been in a car before.”
He hired a diverse staff and could communicate with people from all over the world.
“My dad self-taught himself some French and Italian by watching TV. He took Spanish in high school,” Deraux said. “He even spoke some Arabic, he knew ‘Left,’ ‘Right,’ ‘Stop,’ and ‘Go.’”
Deraux said some Arab men were uncomfortable with their wives being alone in a car with a male instructor. They often sat in the back seat during lessons. Branch reassured them by speaking to them in Arabic.
Branch’s Driving School had the contract to teach driver’s education at Syracuse Schools for several years and had offices at Shoppingtown and Great Northern Mall.
In 1995, when asked what his philosophy was for running a successful business, Branch said:
“Make sure you treat the customer the right way. Give customers good service, because they are the base of the business. If the customer is satisfied, you can stay in business.”
Branch served on the Board of Directors of Housing Visions and Centro and was elected president of the Central City Businessman’s Association. He and his employees volunteered at Habitat for Humanity.
He was an active member of Hopps Memorial CME Church before moving to South Carolina. He served as church treasurer for many years, as well as the Board of Stewards and Ministry to Men.
At the age of 56, in 1989, he returned to the track and began running again for the first time since his time at SU.
He competed at a couple of Empire Senior Games and won medals in the 100- and 800-meter dash.
“I’ve had the opportunity to show not just my children but my grandchildren how I used to do it,” he said in 1991.
On Monday, Oct. 28, the Syracuse Common Council voted to install a temporary Honorary Street sign for one year at the 200 block of North Franklin Street in tribute to Branch.
“Andrew Branch made a positive impact wherever he was,” Councilor Patrick Hogan wrote. “He took tremendous pride in his work and taught numerous generations how to drive. Due to his work, Mr. Branch helped make the roads a safer place and has left a tremendous legacy in the City of Syracuse.”
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 passed away in 2011.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the family can be sent to Della Branch Bullock at 436 Thurber St., Syracuse, NY 13210 or at Cashapp at $DellaBranchBullock.