The Sun
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Photograph by Robert Scheer

Bob Collings was Stocklmeir School's crossing guard for four years, before a traffic accident left him paralyzed.

Children save up popsicle money for crossing guard 'Grandpa Bob'

Stocklmeir School family member paralyzed in recent trafÞc accident

By Natasha Collins

She looked up and saw the warm smile and big blue eyes of the crossing guard peering out from beneath a broad-rimmed cowboy hat. He leaned down and presented the young student with a multicolored pencil and escorted her to the other side.

"Thanks, Grandpa Bob," the student said, looking back and waving at the crossing guard before heading off to class. Grandpa Bob waved back and hurried across the street, his large stop sign in hand, to walk the next bunch of students across the road.

The days went something like that for Bob Collings, or Grandpa Bob, for the past four years as a crossing guard for Stocklmeir School.

But he will not return next fall. A June 2 off-duty traffic accident left him paralyzed from the chest down.

While riding his bicycle home--after taking care of his two grandchildren--to celebrate his anniversary with his wife, Collings was struck by a car as he tried to cross Fremont Avenue. He was thrown into the air and landed on the windshield of the car. Collings' life was saved because he was wearing a helmet.

The woman who hit Collings was questioned and released. The accident is still under investigation.

Collings was known to many Stocklmeir students. He made gifts for more than 350 students during the holidays and always had a gift for students on birthdays or the first day of school. He knew every student's name and attended every Halloween parade and holiday pageant, said Vi Fegin, a secretary at Stocklmeir.

"He is a very, very caring man," Fegin said. "The children look for him every morning, and if he isn't there they worry and ask when he is coming back."

Taking his job very seriously, Collings waited until all the children were picked up after school before he left his post.

"He was always thinking of someone else," said Maureen Jackson, a first- and second-grade teacher at Stocklmeir. "You had to tell him no so he would do things for himself instead of trying to do something for someone else."

Arriving early to work every morning, Collings made sure to say hello to the teachers and had a cup of coffee with them before the children arrived.

"He really liked his job and became really good friends with a lot of the parents and kids," Collings' wife, Evelyn, said. "He looked forward to going to work in the morning."

Collings, a retired Lockheed employee, was unable to have surgery to help correct some of the damage to his spine because three-quarters of his left lung was removed several years ago.

"His lung was removed because of cancer," his wife said. "You always hope that something like this won't happen, and when it does you don't know exactly what to do."

Collings will remain at Veterans Hospital until October, and his wife is not sure where the money for the bills will come from.

"I am not one to beg," she said. "It seems like every time you turn on the TV, there is someone asking for money because they are hurt. We are retired and don't have a lot of money, but we will get by. People should keep the money for those who really need it."

The children at Stocklmeir started a trust fund in Collings' honor and donated the money they raised from a popsicle sale, Jackson said.

"The children made a list of all the things they wanted to use the money for, and donating the money to him was the first thing they mentioned," Jackson said. "He is really a part of the school and a part of our lives."

Children have made banners, painted pictures and said prayers for Collings, his wife said.

"People have been really good to us," she said. "We really appreciate everything that everyone has done for us."

The one thing that the Collings family would like people to remember about the accident is that her husband was wearing his helmet when he was hit.

"He is alive because of his helmet," his wife said. "Whenever I see people riding without their helmets, I stop and tell them that if they could see my husband they would run home and put on their helmets."

Gifts and cards can be sent to Collings at Veterans Hospital, Building 7, C/O Spinal Department, 3801 Merand Ave., Palo Alto 94304.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 2, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.