Hyde Park families mourn beloved school crossing guard who guided kids for 26 years

The Hyde Park community is honoring the life of a woman who safely guided generations of students to and from school. Crossing guard Latanya Sullivan – affectionately known as Ms. Tanya – was a fixture outside Ray Elementary School for more than 25 years.

"This is Ms. Tanya's post for many, many years," Ray Elementary mom Michelle Jefferson said of the intersection of 57th and Kimbark. "She was an auntie to everybody."

For 26 years, no kid from Ray Elementary crossed the street alone. Ms. Tanya made sure of that.

"Yeah, she would always walk kids back and forth and, like, stop cars when they were driving too fast," former student Olivia Jefferson said.

"I know she did a good job, because all the cars used to be able to see her. She would hold this big stop sign," former student Jackson Jefferson said.

Ms. Tanya was small in stature, but huge in impact to families like the Jeffersons.

"You would always see her with her bigger than herself stop sign," Michelle Jefferson said. "Regulary gave out hugs or hellos."

"She would always say hi to me every day, and she would bring me presents all the time, and give me candy," Olivia Jefferson said.

"She always used to give us hugs, which my mom already said," Jackson Jefferson said.

Michelle Jefferson is one of many moms who misses Ms. Tanya.

"She had a heart attack. So, she left us too soon," Michelle said.

Every kid, teacher, and staff member – even the building engineer – has noticed a void at Ray Elementary since Ms. Tanya's death.

"She was a big part of the school," Tom Mayo said. "She would literally yell at the cars for going too fast to make sure the kids got first. Didn't matter who was late or not."

That's why the whole school wanted to say goodbye to their crossing guard. They even invited Ms. Tanya's siblings for Friday's tribute.

"She was just a shining light in our lives every day, and we're going to miss her a lot, so my condolences to you," one neighbor said.

Ms. Tanya never let a kid feel alone. Those kids returned the favor to her family.

"It doesn't have to be as hard, and we're not by ourselves, you know, in the loss," said her sister, Deidre Long.