For more than 20 years, Gwendolyn Clark knew exactly who was coming down the sidewalk outside Vieja Valley School – children by name, dogs by their favorite treats and drivers who needed a reminder to slow down.
Now, at 93, the beloved crossing guard is retiring from a job she never wanted to leave.
Clark’s departure was marked by a surprise celebration Oct. 22, when students, staff and families gathered to honor the woman who had become a fixture of their school community.
“It was really nice of them. I wasn’t expecting that!” Clark said. “I thought it was just going to be the mothers, you know, all of the parents, and when I walked in, and all of the children were there? Oh my goodness.”
Students from every grade made posters and cards, and former students also returned to celebrate her.
Then, she was presented with a certificate of recognition by Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps.
Hope School District Superintendent Anne Hubbard said for the community, Clark had become far more than just a crossing guard.
“She’s the greeter of Vieja Valley,” Hubbard said. “You cross through Gwen, who’s just this really kind, but steady and safe and welcoming.”
Stationed near Nogal Drive and the bike path outside Vieja Valley, Clark was often the first person children saw arriving at school and the last to wave goodbye in the afternoon.
She knew their names, remembered their activities and took an interest in their lives beyond the crosswalk.
“She’s not just crossing. She’s chatting and talking, welcoming, and you know, being interested in them as people,” Hubbard said.
But her warmth never came at the expense of safety. Hubbard recalled that Clark was quick to correct drivers who failed to stop and children who forgot their bicycle helmets.
Clark said she viewed herself “like a mother hen” who kept a protective and watchful eye on everyone who passed through her crossing.
Originally from Aberdeen, Scotland, Clark moved to the United States in December 1995 to join her American husband. She had spent much of her life working and wasn’t particularly interested in slowing down.
“Well, I wanted to do something,” Clark said. I’ve always worked all my life. I’ve always wanted to do something.”
She initially worked an afternoon shift at another crossing for about a year. When her neighbor Sid, a former Vieja Valley teacher who also worked as a crossing guard, retired, Clark approached the school about taking on both morning and afternoon shifts.
She began working for the district in 2006, and her reason for sticking around this long was simple.
“Oh, the children, of course. I loved them all,” Clark said.
Over the years, Clark also became a familiar face to the four-legged residents of the neighborhood, where she developed the habit of carrying dog treats in her pockets.
And it all started with one particularly persistent visitor.
“This dog kept coming to me all the time,” Clark recalled. “I said I don’t have any biscuits. So I went and bought some, and that was it.”
It wasn’t long before the neighborhood dogs learned to expect their own greeting from Clark, just like the children did.
Hubbard said that Clark brought a remarkable amount of energy to the job, and would reliably show up rain or shine well into her 90s.
“She has a pep in her step,” Hubbard said, and that Clark had an enthusiasm that very rarely wavered.
That dedication, Hubbard said, was no coincidence. Clark had previously attributed her energy and longevity to continuing to work and have a purpose,
But health concerns are what ultimately forced her to step away. Her final day of work was Friday, Oct. 23, as she underwent a medical procedure the following Monday.
“Oh, I didnt want to, no,” Clark said of retiring.
Clark was so reluctant to retire, her best friend even showed up on her final day to make sure she’d go through with it.
“I showed up because I needed to make sure she was really gonna retire,” the friend told Hubbard, according to the superintendent.
When the district said goodbye, they weren’t just honoring an employee – they were saying thank you to a woman who had become much more to the community.
“For a lot of kids, they don’t live near grandparents. They don’t have grandparents who are alive,” Hubbard said. “So she was like that kind of grandma figure for so many of our families.”
Even though Clark may no longer be at Vieja Valley, the relationships she built didnt vanish when she stepped off the curb.
Case in point, about midway through the interview, Clark was interrupted by visitors.
“I’ve got three of the children that’ve just come into my house!” she exclaimed.
She also has former students, including some now attending college locally, who make it a point to keep in touch.
“I told them that my door is always open if they want to come in,” she said.
And when asked what she would miss most, Clark didnt hesitate.
“I’ll just miss seeing them coming in the morning, all their smiling faces saying good morning,” she said. “I knew all the names. So it made a difference. The children loved that.”
After more than two decades at Vieja Valley, Clark struggled to choose a single favorite memory.
“Oh, God, there’s so many,” she said.
But in the end, it came back to the same thing that she said kept her returning to that crosswalk year after year.
“Just seeing the children in the morning. Every day.”
