On the morning of March 2, 2005, 47-year-old Joyce Gregory, a school bus driver and teacher’s aide for the Stewart County Board of Education in rural Cumberland City, Tennessee, was shot and killed while picking up students. Gregory had reportedly reported 14-year-old student Jason Clinard the day before for using smokeless tobacco on the bus. Clinard was waiting at the stop with a .45-caliber handgun and opened fire as she opened the bus door, striking her multiple times. About two dozen children were on the bus; none were physically injured after an older student managed to stop the vehicle by steering it into a utility pole.

Gregory died at the scene. Clinard was apprehended and charged with first-degree murder and tried as an adult. The community drew about 1,500 people to Gregory’s funeral, including a procession of some 30 school buses with black ribbons.

What information do readers have about Joyce Gregory’s life or the impact her death had on the community?