After years helping hundreds of students, 83-year-old crossing guard hangs up his stop sign
Thomas Schmaling was recognized by the South Portland School Department for his years of service.
Published March 18, 2026 by Dana Richie, Portland Press Herald
South Portland residents probably saw him every day, wearing a neon yellow vest and standing on the corner of Froswick Avenue and Main Street, a red stop sign in one hand and a cane in the other. No matter the weather, he got there early.
Tom Schmaling, 83, took his job as a crossing guard seriously, coming out of retirement multiple times to help students get to school safely. He knew the name of every student and their pets, he tried out his jokes on them, chatted about the weather and reminded them to look both ways before crossing the street.
“I would tell them ‘You don’t want to go home with tire tracks on your clothes,'” he said. “‘Your mother wouldn’t be too happy about that.'”
Schmaling, who made a living as a machinist and carpenter, started working as a crossing guard in Portland in 2010 as a way to save up for a memorable 50th anniversary cruise to Spain and the Canary Islands with his wife, Kathy.
He loved the job, so he worked on and off for the past 15 years, moving to work in South Portland schools four years ago.
The call to action was personal. He lost his niece in a truck accident, something he still struggles to talk about.
Schmaling retired from his job this year, and the South Portland School Board recognized him for his years of service at its meeting earlier this month.
A LIFE TOGETHER
His wife began working along with him as a crossing guard at Reiche Elementary School a few years after he started. Kathy was stationed on the corner of Spring and Brackett streets, and every day, he dropped her off on the way to his corner further west. Sometimes, they’d get breakfast after.
The couple met through Schmaling’s sister. After meeting her a second time, he asked her out, even though his cousin was also after her. “I told her I’d go to church with her,” he said.
The pair saved up to buy her the wedding dress of her dreams, one with a hoop and flouncy skirt. He was 20 when they wed, not old enough to sign the certificate himself.
They were married for 56 years before her death in 2020. Their wedding picture still hangs at the side of his bed.
They both loved the Greater Portland community and the kids who came through their stops. “They’re always so polite,” he said. On holidays, Schmaling was given homemade cards and signs and cupcakes.
When he noticed some kids walking at his corner on bitterly cold mornings without any gloves, Schmaling stocked up on dollar-store gloves to pass out.
The key to enduring the elements, he said, is “bundling to the max.” Sometimes, Schmaling wore three pairs of pants, and on particularly cold days, he pulled on his ski pants. And he always stayed moving, tapping his feet to keep the blood flowing. He joked that it would take him and Kathy more time to get into their layers than it did to actually help the students cross the street.
RETURNING TO THE STREETS
After his wife died, Schmaling took a break from crossing guard work.
“I sat around and felt sorry for myself,” he said. “I was waiting to die.” That’s when he decided to start again, this time in South Portland.
It was the perfect job for him, his daughter Mary Numme said. He’s an early riser, up every morning at 4 a.m. It kept him active.
And he never shirked. Rocco Navarro, the traffic specialist for South Portland Police, said that some crossing guards stay in their cars when it snows or rains. Not Schmaling.
“He was a trouper,” Navarro said.
But Schmaling has started to feel the effects of age, he said. His sciatica has been getting worse, and it’s harder for him to move his leg in the morning.
Last fall, he fell while shoveling snow from his crosswalk.
“I had a shovel in one hand and a cane in the other,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have done it,” but he didn’t want the children to slip and fall while climbing over a snowbank.
The police department is looking for a replacement for Schmaling. Until then, Navarro has been covering his old corner.
“You can never have too many crossing guards,” Navarro said. It’s the most important job in the department, making sure kids get to school safely, he said.
Schmaling stays busy even though he’s officially retired.
He takes photos, sometimes through the window of his apartment on the seventh floor in South Portland. He likes watching the ships come into the harbor.
A lifelong tinkerer, he likes to restore old clocks. There are 22 in his apartment, and he’s programmed his cuckoo to start crowing the second his grandfather clock stops chiming.
“It’s a hell of a time when there’s a time change,” he said.
At the March 9, 2026 Board Meeting, Chair Rosemarie De Angelis recognized South Portland Crossing Guard Thomas J. Schmaling. She shared:
"Tonight I have the honor of recognizing one of our crossing guards, Thomas J. Schmaling, someone who has done one of the often silent, but most critical jobs in our district. Tom has served as a crossing guard at Froswick and Main Street, until very recently, work that he did earlier with his wife in Portland. Tom did this work well after retirement, and I am particularly grateful to Officer Rocco Navarro for telling me about Mr. Schmaling.
I am going to give others a chance to speak about Tom, but let me tell you a few things I have learned about him–some from my visit at his home in South Portland and others from his daughter, Mary, who is with him tonight. Tom shared stories as a crossing guard, knowing every student who crosses by name and watching out for all of them. Often a dangerous responsibility, Tom safely crossed students thousands of times, always keeping them safe.
While Tom loved serving as a crossing guard, he has other talents and passions too. For many years, Tom has been an avid birdwatcher, and something that often goes with birdwatching, he has a passion for photography. I saw many photos that he has taken, and loving photography myself, I was mesmerized.
An often forgotten art, Tom loves clocks, which he has repaired for years, and his apartment is filled with them. I stood up at one point, and he said, “Well, there are 8 clocks on the wall right where you are standing” and that was just a fraction of what he had. Grandfather clocks, Cuckoo clocks, wall clocks…they were everywhere.
He also loves singing, particularly Elvis songs and has a love of impersonating him. Maybe we could get him to do a number for us. His side talent is trying to make people laugh.
Tom is an early bird, always on time wherever he goes; I made sure to get here early tonight, because I knew he would come with time to spare. He loves getting breakfast at Marcy's, IHOP and Becky's diner.
When his wife was alive, they worked for the Portland school district as crossing guards, saving their money to go out for breakfast or for their cruise vacations, traveling to Spain and Bermuda. His wife loved her kids by Reiche school, and Tom would be at one corner in the West End and she would be on Spring Street and Brackett. Every morning, he would drop her off and then go to his corner so it was quite sweet that they were kitty corner across from the playground.
Tom heads the garden club at Betsy Ross House, hosts both bingo and movie nights for years, often creating special posters to get people interested.
He worked as a crossing guard in South Portland for the past four years, again holding one of the most important jobs in the district, helping kids get to school safely. I can hardly think of a more important job. A job he did until the ripe age of 83.
Thank you so much, Tom, for all you have done to keep kids safe."