Crossing guard gets tribute in Park Forest
Remembrances pour in after death of veteran, longtime public servant
I never met Wayne Simpson, never said hello, and never shook hands with him whenwe could grip one another in friendship. Yet I saw him whenever I drove past 21st Century School in Park Forest on school days. This is where he stood on the corner of Apple Lane and Orchard Drive, decked out in his bright yellow vest and holding that red “STOP” sign in one hand.
Hewas a crossing guard; one of those we may overlook on our way elsewhere, but one of those who are part of our life. Rain or shine, heat or frost, they guard our most precious legacy— our children.
At times Iwould see drivers roll down a window and greet him with awave of the hand. I could only shrug. Iwas going someplace.
This is what I now know about this extraordinary man who died this month at age 72. He grewup in Chicago and joined the Army in 1966 after high school. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam and after retiring froma ctive duty in 1986 he over saw Junior ROTC programs in Chicago public schools for another 20 years.
Simpson met his wife, Corena, on June 8, 1971, while hewas stationed in Pacific Grove, California. Theywere married 57 days later (Aug. 4). They raised four children, Wayne Jr., 48;
Laketheia, 45; Herbert, 43;and Sean, 35. In 1990, the Simpson familymoved to Park Forest, first to a unit on Hemlock Street and shortly thereafter to their home on Nanti Street.
“Hewas a kind, funny man who loved talking to everyone,” his son Herbert said. It seemed inevitable hewould interact with others, if not as an ROTC instructor, well then, a crossing guard would do. So, for the last 12 years of his active life Simpson faithfully served his community by ensuring the safety of the most vulnerable.
Two days after his death, a temporary memorial was raised across the street fromthe school where he shepherded students. Against a pole there hung a yellow vest on a hanger, a stop sign, and a few star-shaped balloons. How ironic it seems, that this tribute to the memory of this beloved man was just yards away from where he died.
On that final day, Sept. 10, the Simpsons attended a funeral service for
George Banevich at Faith United Protestant Church, after which Wayne decided to pick up a few items at a grocery store. Some two hours later a Park Forest police officer knocked on the door of their house and told Corena the news no one wants to hear.
Wayne Simpson had a heart attack while driving north on Orchard Drive. Hewent as far as he could before turning into the parking area of the school he served. Thiswas where he died. Police, responding to a call about a car with its motor running at the site, found him there.
When the sad word went out on social media the responses came quickly.
“My daughter asked to be dropped off across the street fromschool just so she could hold his hand and chat with him,” wrote one mother. “Sometimes he’d walk her all theway to the door and she’d give him a little hug.”
“My son always looked for him after school,” said another mother. “He will always be there to help them cross over Orchard (Drive).
“Youwere loved” and “hewas a wonderful man,” were typical of the tributes to him.
A Police Department records clerk wrote “he brightened our day when he’d come and chat with us."
To these words, Laketheia Simpson summed it up with a simple “My daddy.”
The Greek historian Herodotus tells of Croesus, the king of Lydia who boasts to the Athenian law giver Solon of his power and wealth. Solon replies that Croesus is happy because he is rich, but also said the happiest man he met was a man who worked hard, raised a family andwas content with what he had.
Happiness, he said, can only be measured at the end of one’s life.
Wayne Simpson may have been the happiest person I never met.