Lewisville's first and oldest crossing guard proves there's no age limit on helping others
LEWISVILLE (CBSNewsTexas) - A North Texas school crossing guard is proving you can't put an age limit on helping others. Pat Stone helped start Lewisville's crossing guard program six decades ago, and she's still on the job today.
Stone, who is 89 years old, was a Girl Scout leader in the 1960s.
"One of the mother's said, I am worried about our kids walking to school because everything was bar ditches, no sidewalks, gravel street," Stone said.
So Stone went to the Lewisville police chief with her concerns.
"And he told me to go home and tend to my kids," she said. "So I went to the Highway Patrol."
A state trooper eventually came out to show Stone and a few other women how to make their own signs and stop cars.
"I'm just hardheaded," said Stone. "When I wanted it done, I wanted it done. We had decided we were going to do it, and when a woman decides she's going to do it – she does it."
She's been a part of the program for nearly 60 years now, working on and off in between other jobs and raising her own children.
"I like to be busy, and I like to work with the kids," she said.
Stone gets to South Ridge Elementary every morning between 4:30-5 a.m. and comes back around 2 p.m. to make sure students can safely get to and from school.
She's not afraid to step into the traffic or reprimand a parent in the pick-up line who blocks the crosswalk.
"I don't use bad language, but I do tell them to stop," said Stone.
Stone has become a constant fixture in the students' lives, dispensing daily encouragement and advice.
"You've got to like them," Stone said. "Today there's smiles, tomorrow there's frowns. The next day they'll cry."
She plans to be there the next day and the day after that to get the job done, no matter the weather.
"If the kids go to school, I can go to work," she said. "I got a rain coat and a hood and galoshes and boots, and I can stop cars."
Stone will turn 90 in February 2024.