Every school day, Lucy Hembrough dons her neon vest and carries her big red sign out to the street near William F. Davidson Elementary School in Surrey. 

She pushes a button activating a flashing light that signals to drivers that they need to stop for pedestrians. Just to be safe, she walks out into the road, holding up her sign — adorned with stickers gifted by students — as children wander through the crosswalk behind her. 

It’s how Hembrough, 78, has spent most mornings and afternoons for the last 40 years. 

It all started when a friend of hers was looking for a new crossing guard at the school. 

The school district has long partnered with an organization called Frontiersmen of the Commonwealth to recruit crossing guards. Hembrough wears their patch on her yellow jacket.

She wasn’t interested at first, but eventually gave it a try. It turned out, she loved it. 

Hembrough’s husband worked at the now-closed Green Timbers Nursery in Surrey to support her and their son. As a stay-at-home mom, she said the volunteer position gave her something to look forward to. 

“It just kept me going every day, going out in the mornings, going out in the afternoons,” she said.

Surrey board of education chair Gary Tymoschuk said crossing guards are “the first trusted adult a child sees on their way to school.”

“They are a calming presence, a familiar face, and a daily reminder that their community cares about their safety,” he said. “We are deeply grateful for Lucy’s extraordinary commitment to our children over the past 40 years.”

While her work as a crossing guard has been a meaningful part of her life these past few decades, it’s also meant a lot to the people in the community. 

According to the school district, Hembrough has kept generations of family members safe at her crosswalk.

“I crossed these parents … and then I couldn’t believe it. A few years later their kids came along and it was quite shocking because I never expected anything like that,” Hembrough said. 

Jaspreet Randhawa remembers Hembrough helping her cross the road when she was in Grade 2. 

“I remember Lucy’s warmth and her smile. She’s always smiling at everyone. She’s always waving at everybody. And she does her best in remembering little pieces of information about other individuals.”

Now a teacher at William F. Davidson, Randhawa marvels as she watches Hembrough help her students cross the street today. 

Hembrough helped Emma Maurice-Lawton, now 19, get to school every day when she was in Grade 3. That turned into a friendship between Hembrough and Maurice-Lawton’s family, and they ended up so close they’ve actually spent a few Christmases together.

“She almost became sort of a second grandma, in essence, to these guys,” said Shelley Maurice, Maurice-Lawton’s mother. “We started hanging out, going to her house, having tea with her.”

“She makes these special cookies for me even to this day,” Maurice-Lawton added. “She really has that grandma feeling.”

Hembrough has grown close with many of the students at the school. 

“The kids are funny and they always say funny little things,” she said. “They tell me they love me, hug me all the time. And it’s really enjoyable.”

And while at age 78 many would decide to hang up their safety vest in favour of retirement, Hembrough said she hopes to hang in there a little longer. 

“I’m going to do it as long as I can.”