A Crossing Guard's Long Journey

By Marilyn Miller, APS Storyteller

As a crossing guard at Sam Salem Elementary CLC for 40 years, Linda DeLong has been there for parents when they were students, their children and their grandchildren, as well as two of her own children and three grandchildren.

She applied for the job when she was 36 years old. She saw a posted sign stating that there was a need for crossing guards. She landed a permanent position at Sam Salem shortly after she started working.

The weather, good or bad, was never a deterrent.

“I would be really sick if I called off,” she said. “The only time I took some time off was when my mother was dying and I traveled to Florida to spend time with her. We worked funerals around my schedule.” 

It’s a five minute drive to her post, but her husband took her to work everyday and waited in the car for her.

”We are together all the time,” she said. “It was a running joke that he, too, should have been walking the kids across the street.”

According to DeLong, one of her hardest challenges as a crossing guard was getting students and parents not to cross Waterloo Road between the school and her at 27th Street. However, there was little she could do when parents were the ones taking them across the street with total disregard of the nearby traffic light.

“They’d tell their kids ‘c’mon let’s go’ it doesn’t matter if cars are coming or not, they cross the street and it’s not safe,” she said. “It’s a high traffic area. I have a traffic light there, but people don’t care what color it is, they just do what they want to do.”

She said she didn’t have problems with any of the children, because if they were disrespectful she talked to them first then told them she would have a talk with the school or her boss at the police department. It’s motorists who don’t always pay attention. They pass right by her when she’s still standing in the street with her stop sign. 

“I let them know that’s not what they’re supposed to do, I would just yell at them. Sometimes, they would turn right on red but they aren’t supposed to do that either - turn the corner on school days during school time.”

She faulted motorists who don’t read the signs, pointing out that there are two signs. There’s one at the stop sign and one at the light. 

“I had a few close calls but I always got the kids out of the way for those who disregarded speed limits,” she said. “ They missed me by a couple of inches. I could feel the wind from the car passing by me, that was close enough. “

Always on guard, DeLong would walk up to the cars she didn’t recognize and ask why they were talking to a student. One motorist identified himself as the grandfather of a student, and said he appreciated her asking and checking out the situation.

“Always follow your gut instincts,” she said. “I did call the police one time when I saw a car in the area moving slowly following kids. It looked like he was trying to pick up kids. He took off when I started walking toward the car.”

She said she immediately called the police and gave a detailed description and let the school know. There were five schools in the area. She said the car was never seen in the area again.

DeLong decided to retire and spend more time for herself and her family, but said she doesn’t regret a day on the job because it was always about the “safety of the kids” and she knows they appreciated her.

“They kept me busy,” DeLong said. “They gave me a reason for getting out of bed in the morning. I will miss them.”