'Mr. Bob,' 88-year-old crossing guard, saves two children's lives before sacrificing his own

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/19/crossing-guard-killed/


An 88-year-old school crossing guard is being praised for stepping in to help save lives before getting hit and killed in Kansas City, Kan., on Feb. 18. (Fox 4 News)

By Meagan Flynn

Feb. 19, 2020 at 5:31 a.m. EST

The kids knew him as Mr. Bob.

He was there to greet them when they went to school in the morning and when they left in the afternoon, standing in the middle of Leavenworth Road with a stop sign in his hand and a supply of Russell Stover peppermints in his pocket.

For Valentine’s Day last week, the kids brought the 88-year-old crossing guard mugs full of candy and made him a card, and for Christmas one year he gave some of them presents.

But on Tuesday morning, the children at Christ the King Catholic School in Kansas City, Kan., saw Bob Nill for the last time.

It was about five minutes before 8 a.m., five minutes until the first bell rang and Nill’s job ushering kids through the crosswalk would be over for the morning. Two young boys, in third and fifth grade, had just stepped off the curb.

But just then, Nill motioned for them to step back, said school principal Cathy Fithian. He saw a black sedan speeding toward them. He could sense that it wasn’t stopping or slowing, despite Nill’s big red sign and the school zone’s flashing yellow lights.

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Holy shit...

[hlthe2b]

1. the epitome of an "honorable and courageous man"

RIP, sir.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Here's hoping everyone involved gets the help they'll need in the coming months.

[wendyb-NC]

3. Damn!

That is so sad. R.I.P. hero.

[lagomorph777]

4. May the driver of that car go to jail for a long, long time.

[milestogo]

5. Glad he lived to see the Chiefs win the Superbowl.

[irisblue]

6. 🕯️

[lpbk2713]

7. No one has greater love than to lay down one's life for another.

Thank you Mr Bob.

[calimary]

8. This.

[IronLionZion]

9. Semper Paratus

Mr. Bob was a former Coastie.

What the hell was going on with the driver of the car? The article didn't say much about it.

[TygrBright]

10. One of the "unimportant" people. The "little" people. With an "ordinary" job...

And a reminder of how often we forget that we ALL have the power to transcend the little, the unimportant, and the ordinary of our lives.

I am sorry the reminder came at the cost of what was by this account a powerfully-lived life.

We have all too many reminders of our power to immanate and degrade the great, the important, and the extraordinary of our lives.

Whatever of Beyond there is, receive you with honor, Mr. Bob.

sadly,
Bright

[renate]

11. how awful

What a hero.

All the kids who knew him will remember him for the rest of their lives. And they're so young... so he will be remembered with love by someone for eight more decades at least. He's as immortal in that way as any one could ever be.