PETERSBURG, Va. -- For nearly 50 years, Gloria Gray has helped to keep children safe while crossing the street to schools in Petersburg.
The 80-year-old crossing guard has shown no sign of slowing down like the drivers who see her outside school.
"I’ve seen a lot of kids grow up, graduate, make something of themselves, I enjoy it," Gray said.
Gray began her job when her children were young.
"My kids were small," she said. "Six and eight [years old]."
All these decades later, she sometimes encounters adults she once helped as children.
"They’ll stop and say, 'You put me across, now my child crosses,'" she said.
Gray said drivers do seem to speed more these days, but she added most obey the rules when they see her in the street.
"When I’m out there, I’m looking out for the little kids, and when the people see me out there, they stop," she said.
Her important duty is appreciated by those in her community.
"Everybody loves Ms. Gloria," Walnut Hill Elementary School parent Zaviana Frazier said. "She takes her job seriously. She's very passionate about what she does. I’m tearing up because it’s so cold out here but Ms. Gloria’s out here, without a problem.'
"A lot of people aren’t paying attention," Walnut Hill Elementary School parent Darian Owen added. "It’s nice to have someone here to just specifically pay attention to just that."
"We could use her on many corners in Petersburg," Kirsten Katzenbach said. "Not just at the schools, but all over the city. If we could clone her, it would be a great thing."
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