Marie Templeton, a crossing guard for West Hartford’s Smith STEM School, was able to prevent a possible tragedy when she stopped a seemingly distracted driver from hitting several pedestrians.

Crossing guard Marie Templeton stops traffic for pedestrians to cross South Quaker Lane at the intersection with Seymour Avenue, near Smith STEM School. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

Marie Templeton humbly said she didn’t think she was risking her life when she stopped a driver who was about pass other stopped vehicles and enter a pedestrian-filled crosswalk, but others say she is a hero who prevented what could have been a tragedy.

Templeton had walked out into the street with her stop sign, and traffic was halted in all directions as eight pedestrians – kids and their parents – were about to cross South Quaker Lane from east to west at the intersection with Seymour Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 23, at approximately 3:45 p.m.

“Traffic was stopped everywhere when I saw this car about to pass the stopped cars on the right,” Templeton recalled. “I didn’t think she was going to stop. I yelled at her and waved my sign at her,” Templeton said. She also yelled to the pedestrians to “hold it,” and the driver managed to stop just in time before entering the crosswalk.

Templeton told police that she thought the driver, a woman who appeared to be 30 or younger, was looking down, possibly using her cellphone. She said that she yelled to the driver to bring attention to her reckless behavior but was not acknowledged. The driver’s identity was not determined.

Several who witnessed the incident, and others who read about it in a Facebook post, notified West Hartford Police Capt. Jeff Rose who heads the department’s Traffic Division and is responsible for the crossing guards. They wanted to be sure that Templeton was recognized for her heroism, as well as for being “endlessly friendly and fiercely protective of her students.”

“I spoke to Jennifer Smith who was walking with her kids and they were crossing at Marie’s direction. Mrs. Smith said she noticed the car approaching southbound after they began to cross. Mrs. Smith said that Marie stepped between the car and the pedestrians before it stopped,” Rose said. “[Smith] describes Marie’s actions as ‘heroic’ and she said Marie prevented the car from hitting any pedestrians. Mrs. Smith is a regular customer as she walks her kids to Smith School and she has offered praise to Marie on past occasions,” said Rose.

“The irony of this is that Marie said she does not have a computer and she did not know of the postings until her daughter told her about it,” Rose said.

West Hartford crossing guard Marie Templeton has been manning the intersection of South Quaker Lane and Seymour Avenue for three years. She is known for waving at everyone, and recently has been called a hero. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Rose thinks that Templeton may be humbly downplaying her actions. “It takes courage and confidence to step out in to traffic and help people like she does,” he said.

Templeton has garnered praise and admiration from the community not only for her heroic action last week, but also for her friendliness to Smith STEM kids and parents, and everyone else she sees.

Templeton knows all of the kids she crosses by name, and said she knows the birthdays of all 19 kids as well. And although not everyone who drives by knows her by name, they know her as the crossing guard who always waves.

“I wave to everyone because the guy before me did,” said Templeton, referencing Mr. Lassiter, the crossing guard who previously had the South Quaker Lane post. Rose said Templeton sets an “excellent example of how a crossing guard should perform their duties” and he has heard from many people, including other police officers, who mention how kind and wonderful she is.

Templeton has been a crossing guard for Smith STEM School since 2013, and her territory is the corner of Seymour Avenue and South Quaker Lane. It’s a busy street with a clearly marked crosswalk, and in addition to permanent “school crossing” signs on either side of the road, West Hartford Police have given Templeton a neon sign and cones that she places on the South Quaker Lane crosswalk during the time that Smith students are heading to and from school.

“I’m here to make the kids happy,” Templeton said. She knows she’s not supposed to give the kids food, but she said she knits them all mittens for Christmas, noting the color of each one’s coat so that the mittens match. And she also gives them little gifts of school supplies – like pencils and composition books – on their birthdays.

Even though it’s not part of her job, Templeton said she arrives extra early in the morning to cross the kids who are catching the bus to Bristow Middle School.

Templeton smiles when she admits that Smith STEM families and neighbors give her homemade baked goods at the holidays.

Templeton is a West Hartford resident who still lives in the Elmwood house she and her husband bought when they got married in the 1960s. She raised four children there, who all graduated from Conard and went on to college. Now retired, Templeton said she enjoys working as a crossing guard because it keeps her busy. She said it’s windy at her post on South Quaker, but she dresses in layers and doesn’t mind it too much.

As she stands on the sidewalk talking, Templeton stop to wave at cars that pass by. Some drivers gently beep “hello,” and all wave back and return Templeton’s smile.

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