Memorial Rededicated To Edgewater Crossing Guard

EDGEWATER, MD — In 1997, Rob Hardesty's world was turned upside down when his wife Nancy, a crossing guard stationed outside South River High School, was struck and killed by a vehicle. It happened three days before Christmas when she was just 51.

Hardesty couldn't turn on the TV without hearing his wife's name or seeing her face. He couldn't handle it. One day when he finally was brave enough to see what was happening, he discovered complete strangers leaving flowers for his wife at the median island where she was hit, at the northeast corner of the intersection of Central Avenue and Mayo Road in Edgewater. A man interviewed by a TV crew shared that Nancy would smile and wave every day.

Now, 22 years later, the county fire department, police department, crossing guards and family gathered to rededicate a memorial to Hardesty that sits next to the high school’s welcome sign, with A Crossing Guard’s Prayer written on it, reported The Baltimore Sun. There also is a simple white wooden cross near the median island where other crossing guards and students can see it. It reads “crossing with you” and “Love to Nancy.”