WB_041819

12 | April 18, 2019 | The wilmette beacon NEWS
wilmettebeacon.com
Longtime crossing guard knows everybody
Sheriff has worked
Wilmette, Forest
avenues for years
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
Every neighborhood
should be lucky enough to
have a Herb.
Wilmette’s Herb Sheriff
that is.
He is the crossing guard
at Wilmette and Forest
Avenues, who for more
than 27 years, twice a day,
crosses about three dozens
children on their way to
and from school. That does
not include the many adults
who accompany their children,
those walking dogs or
anyone enjoying a neighborhood
stroll.
Sheriff knows everyone’s
name and they know
him.
“Hi Herb, how are you,”
they call out.
Sheriff responds with a
broad smile and responds
with a, “I’m great. Have a
good day.”
At going home time,
Sheriff is often heard asking,
“How was your day?”
“Herb is a second dad,
father, brother, uncle to
literally thousands,” David
Ford, a neighborhood resident,
said. “He is knowledgeable
just about any
subject you might want to
discuss. His kindness to everyone
is uniquely special.”
Ford reminisces about
how Sheriff helped his then
young son cross the street
many years ago and now is
an adult.
Sheriff, a 50-year Wilmette
resident, came upon
the crossing guard job by
happenstance. He worked
as an electrical engineer
into his 60s but was laid off
by his company when there
was a downturn in the nation’s
economy.
“I could not just stay
home and do nothing,”
Sheriff said. “I started looking
for something to do and
saw this job posted, applied
and here I am all these
years later. I love this job!”
Sheriff is indeed the
neighborhood protector
when it comes to crossing
the local streets.
“There are a lot of accidents
in this area,” he
said. “Cars go too fast, do
not pay attention to what’s
going on — children and
adults crossing the streets,
some pushing strollers or
walking dogs. Many are on
bicycles in warmer weather.
It is not uncommon to hear
car brakes screeching.”
Sheriff is known to yell
out to passing cars to slow
down or stop.
“Occasionally drivers
will thank me for bringing
their ‘driving transgressions’
to their attention,” he
said.
Sheriff loves the children
he meets in his job.
“Kids deserve love and
if you do not like children,
you should not be in this
job,” Sheriff said. “Sometimes
those I crossed years
ago come back and say
hello and thank me.”
One thing he insists upon
with those he protects is
wearing helmets when riding
bicycles. Sheriff could
be heard saying, “That also
means putting them on so
they fit properly and are
fastened correctly.
“Why is your helmet not
on?,” Sheriff asks a youngster
not wearing one. “You
are too important not to
have a helmet on.”
He even makes an issue
with parents who are not
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 3 days ago
Carmel Glynn and
daughter, Lucy, walk their
dog, Mac, as Sheriff stops
traffic.
wearing a helmet when riding
their bicycles.
“I bug moms and tell
them they count, too,”
Sheriff said. “I am honest
with them.”
The neighbors love Sheriff
despite his occasional
chastisements.
He was deeply in love
with his wife, Fran. When
she passed away a few
years ago, the neighbors
were there to support him.
“One neighbor brought
me meals,” Sheriff said. “I
always liked to cook but
do not do much of it any
more.”
Sheriff said his time as
a crossing guard has given
him a great respect for parents,
especially the women,
who take their children
back and forth to school
each day.
“Many of them have responsibilities
and jobs outside
the home in addition
to their household duties
and somehow manage to
find time to personally accompany
their youngsters,”
he said. “Those memories
will be with their children
forever.”
Sheriff says he wakes up
each day around 3 a.m. and
Wilmette’s Herb Sheriff
works at Wilmette and
Forest avenues. Photos
by Hilary Anderson/22nd
Century Media
loves the quiet of the morning.
He especially likes the
wildlife he sees around his
corner—deer, foxes, coyote
and even a falcon.
“It is so quiet and yet so
pretty,” Sheriff said.
He recently went on an
Honor Flight to Washington,
D.C. to view the Korean
War Memorial.
Sheriff was drafted into
the Army Infantry during
the Korean War.
“I learned how to keep
warm during cold weather
when I was in the Army,”
he said. “You layer.”
Sheriff’s memories of
the time in the Infantry and
fellow soldiers who made
the ultimate sacrifice are
still vivid in his mind.
He looked forward to
finding their names on the
memorial.
Sheriff has two sons and
four grandchildren. One is
an architect in the Toronto
area. The other works in
neuroscience at the University
of Chicago.
He remembers every
one of their birthdays. But
then that is understandable.
Herb Sheriff is a uniquely
special person.
park
From Page 6
water project would simultaneously
address flooding
issues at the parks, as well
as at local residences.
“Flooding issues affect
the parks and the ability
to play in the parks in very
significant ways,” he said.
“Approving this will allow
for the improvement of
recreation infrastructure,
as well as dealing with the
flooding issues in the West
Wilmette area.”
There was also some
discussion of the Community
Playfield proposal
at the meeting. The current
proposal requires the
destruction of the grove of
cottonwood trees behind
Highcrest Middle School.
Resident Herb Engelhard
suggested an alternative
proposal for the placement
Village
From Page 6
80 percent to more than $9
million in 2040. While the
Village’s new plan will require
additional contributions
to the pension funds
between 2020-2023, future
contributions will be less
and are projected to stabilize.
As structured, Village’s
new pension funding strategy
should result in an 80-
90 percent funded level
by 2040, a strategy that is
recommended by the Society
of Actuaries. Because
the Village’s strategy will
make future pension contributions
more manageable
while paying down
each fund’s unfunded liability,
it is also preferred
by bond rating agencies
and will be an important
component in seeking
to retain Wilmette’s Aaa
bond rating, the highest
possible rating. This rating
is important because it
helps minimize future debt
of the underground storage
at Community Playfield.
“The tank at the Community
Playfield could be
placed in a way that doesn’t
involve the destruction of
the cottonwood grove,” he
said. “This could also be
an opportunity to improve
the drainage of the soccer
fields.”
The final public hearing
at a board meeting is set
for 7:30 p.m. on May 13
(Thornwood Park) at Village
Hall. There will also
be two public input sessions
at the parks at 6:30
p.m. on April 24 (Hibbard
Park) and May 22 (Thornwood
Park). In the event
of inclement weather,
the Thornwood Park session
would take place at
Mallinckrodt and the Hibbard
Park session would
take place at the Community
Recreation Center.
costs and thus provides relief
to taxpayers.
Background
Public safety pension
benefits are determined
by the Illinois General
Assembly. According to
the press release, police
officers and firefighters
contribute on average 9.7
percent of their salaries to
the pension program, and
along with investment returns,
the Village and its
taxpayers are responsible
for funding the remainder
of the pension program.
Since the late nineties,
when the Illinois General
Assembly enhanced public
safety pension benefits,
the Village’s annual pension
contributions have
increased over 750 percent
to $5 million, while
the funded position of the
funds have gone from being
over funded by almost
$3 million to underfunded
by more than $56 million
Full story at Wilmette-
Beacon.com.