AUBURNDALE, Fla. — A Polk County woman has become a beloved figure for her work as a school crossing guard.

Patricia Johnson spent decades as a hospice caregiver. After she retired, someone suggested she might like being a crossing guard, and she decided to go for it.

What You Need To Know

  • Patricia Johnson worked as a hospice caregiver for decades. 

  • She decided to become a crossing guard after retiring about a year ago. She works near Caldwell Elementary School.

  • She brings donuts for the children every couple of weeks and tells them and passing drivers that she loves them.

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“OK. And good morning to you sweetheart,” Johnson said to a driver as they were passing by her crosswalk at Diary Road and Senate Street near Caldwell Elementary School. Johnson makes sure that drivers know she is on duty and is glad they are driving slowly.

Johnson goes above and beyond to be friendly to the drivers and to the children she is there to protect. She tells them that she loves them.

One way she shows that love, is by bringing them donuts a couple of times a month.

“One apiece. One apiece. Get the napkin,” she tells students as they make their way to the back of her SUV to get their treat. She hugs many of them as they come her way.

Johnson sometimes brings pizzas for the children. She figures it’s her way of giving back.

“We love her so much. We love you so much,” said Caldwell Elementary principal Kathryn Ashmore as Johnson gave her a hug as they stood on the sidewalk.

“I love people. I can’t help that. God loves me. So why can’t I love people? Ain't nothing wrong with that is there? Is it? I didn’t think so,” Johnson said about the loving way she treats the students and drivers.