Dedication keeps CCIT’s Parker Willey driving safely for more than 30 years

This summer, CCIT courier Parker Willey was given the South Carolina’s State Government 30-year Safe Driver Award, recognizing employees who safely operated state-owned vehicles.

To qualify for the award, employees must have operated state-owned vehicles without a single chargeable accident or moving violation. Although Willey has been a courier for 32 years, he received the 30-year award because the program did not exist until 1989, two years after he started his position at the Computer Center.

Willey helps deliver mail, parcels and other items across Clemson’s offices throughout the Upstate. He also delivers the line of march cards the morning of graduation to the Registrar’s office, ensuring three graduations a year happen smoothly.

Greg Reeves, Willey’s supervisor, estimates that Parker has driven more than 750,000—and possibly more than one million—miles during Parker’s 32 years of service. “Parker works in the background, never receiving a lot of credit,” said Reeves, “but he makes a lot of information flow fluidly within CCIT and beyond.”

“We have found Parker Willey to be capable, loyal, courteous and helpful in his association with our office,” said Linda Rice, director of the Office of Risk Management, which presents the awards each June. “We have always been able to depend on Parker and we thank him for his steadfast and competent work. Thank you, Parker, for your hard work.”

When asked to share a bit of wisdom on how he has kept a safe driving record, Willey noted the high volume of traffic in Clemson and stated that you should always take your time and look the other way, especially when turning onto one-way streets. That attentiveness has kept him safe on the roads for three decades. “It didn’t seem like 30 years… it seems like I started just 10 years ago. In other words, time flies,” Willey said with a smile. “I may go for 40 years.”