(Frank Bass died April 25, 2017)

In his 20 years of chauffeuring student-athletes to athletic events from coast-to-coast across this great nation, it is probably safe to say that Frank Bass witnessed more important Wayland Baptist athletic milestones than any other person has before or since.

Bass grew up in nearby Kress, Texas, and graduated from Kress High School in 1940.  He served as a sergeant in the army for three years and three months, working as a radio operator on the B-24 bomber.  A self-employed farmer in the Kress area from 1946 to 1980, Bass took over as the charter bus driver for Wayland upon his retirement from farming.

“Daddy Frank,” as he was affectionately known by scores of WBU student-athletes during his days behind the wheel, took great care of both the bus he drove and the passengers that he transported.  Among those passengers were Devon Morris, Comfort Igeh and Denise Williams, the three most decorated track and field athletes in the history of Wayland Baptist University; Michael Parks, Tim Thomas and Richard Miller, three key components of the most successful men’s basketball team in Pioneer history; Michael Reyes, J.J. Peirce, and Nathan Culwell, all Major League Baseball draftees; and occasionally, when the weather was too bad to fly, Flying Queen All-Americans such as Sharla Harrison, Hazel Taylor and Carmen Wynn, the top three scorers in women’s basketball at Wayland.

Bass escorted the first eight national championship indoor track and field teams in Wayland history home from such places as Kansas City, Mo., and Lincoln, Neb.  He drove outdoor track and field teams to opposite ends of the country from Azusa, Calif. to Charleston, W.Va.  and watched as the Pioneer men and women captured six national runner-up banners.

Among Bass’s most memorable trips was a “quick” trip to Kansas City, Mo. for the championship game of the 1986 NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  When the underdog Pioneers made it to the title game, Bass drove a bus load of fans from Plainview to the event.  They left early the morning of the game, arrived in Kansas City two hours before game time, and then drove straight back in the rain immediately after the exciting overtime thriller in which the Pioneers lost by two on a shot at the buzzer.

When former Wayland student-athletes and coaches from the 80’s and 90’s return to campus for a visit,  they invariably ask about Frank Bass, a man that was much more than just a bus driver.  To the coaches, he was a man that always knew the way --- not only to the athletic venue, but also to the best places to eat and best places to stay.  To the athletes, Daddy Frank was a caretaker, a confidant and best of all, according to one former athlete, “a supreme giver of hugs.”   

Bass and his wife, Wanda, have three sons, one daughter, 11 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. 

He is currently enjoying retirement with an occasional excursion out to check on his son and grandson in their farming operations.