Beloved Crossing Guard Retires, Honored By Community

CENTER MORICHES, NY – Scores of schoolchildren have started their days with the smiling face of their beloved crossing guard.

Melissa Greve has been a constant in Center Moriches for seven years, officials said, adding that on school days, she was posted faithfully at Brookfield Ave. and Montauk Highway, greeting all those who passed with a warm smile and a wave.

But Greve is bidding adieu: On Aug. 15, the community came together at the Moriches Bay Recreation Center to congratulate her on her retirement.

“I don’t believe that there’s a single person in the community who doesn’t know Melissa or at least know of her,” said Suffolk County Legislator Rudy Sunderman, whose district includes Center Moriches. “Her warm smile and friendly wave brightened the day of hundreds of residents on a daily basis.”

At the retirement party, organized by Keith Caputo and his mother, Casey, of Helping Makes You Happy, friends, family, and members of the community gathered to wish Greve a happy retirement as well as a happy 50th wedding anniversary, which she will celebrate in September with her husband.

Greve, a resident of Mastic, has been a Suffolk County crossing guard for 14 years, seven of which were spent at her Center Moriches corner. Greve has also worked with Meals on Wheels for 20 years delivering meals to senior citizens who are on a fixed income and unable to leave home.

Greve has devoted much of her life to helping others and has said that if she could put a smile on one person’s face a day and make them feel loved, it was all worth it, officials said. She said she loved her job protecting schoolchildren as they crossed the busy intersection and enjoys spreading joy and kindness to everyone she meets.

During the holidays, she purchased advent calendars with her own money and handed them out to both children and adults.

Looking ahead, Greve will be moving to West Virginia where she has purchased a house near an elementary school. She said she plans to continue to wave and smile at all the children and adults as they pass by her home on their way to school.

“Melissa is one of those rare people that truly devotes herself to make others around her happy,” Sunderman said. “I know I speak for the entire community when I say that she is truly going to be missed and we wish her continued health and happiness in her retirement.”