Published: May 10, 2008 11:59 pm            

LOCKPORT: Crossing guards turn corner to contentment with late-life union

First she took his corner, now she’s taken his last name. A Hixenbaugh will be back on crossing-guard detail Monday at North Adam and Van Buren streets, just south of DeWitt Clinton Elementary School, after the one who gave up the post took his replacement to be his wife.

Frank Hixenbaugh Sr., 81, and Virginia DeVoe, 76, were married Saturday at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, to the delight of their seven children, 26 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren between them, as well as Virginia’s boss, city crossing guard coordinator Amy Wiltse.

“He’s a real tough guy, and she’s just so sweet. They’re the cutest little couple you’ve ever seen,” Wiltse said. “They’re perfect together.”

Over the six years that they’ve known each other, Frank and Virginia forged strong bonds of affection and respect, but marriage was not on their minds until recently. He had been a widower for eight years, and she a widow for 26 years, when a close call made them rethink their status.

Early this year, Frank suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with congestive heart disease. On doctor’s orders, he had to abandon the crossing-guard post that he’d held for almost 15 years.

Virginia took it over for him and, while she was at it, took care of Frank and his home. In the process, a tough guy was humbled to realize just how much he’d come to rely on his steady companion.

He wasn’t humbled quite enough to pop the question, though. When the words came out, they were more a declaration.

“A couple months ago, all the sudden, he decided, ‘we’re gonna get married.’ He said it just like that,” Virginia said. “I said, ‘Oh, OK.’”

“She got my shotgun out of the closet,” Frank cracked. “I figured after all I put her through, I’d give her a break. She’s a good girl.”

Frank, a retired Harrison Radiator machine repairman, and Virginia, a retired Mount View nurse’s aide, both were school crossing guards when they met in 2002, but that’s not why they met.

Virginia said a friend of hers knew the Hixenbaugh family and had been invited to Frank’s 75th birthday party. The friend asked whether Virginia would go along “and meet somebody. She said, ‘(Frank) is lonely and his daughter is trying to get him together with somebody.’ I said, ‘sure, I’ll go meet any old fool,’” she remembered with a laugh.

Truth be told, Virginia said, sparks didn’t exactly fly at their first encounter. She and Frank chatted only briefly at the party, but he did take the time to thank her for coming when she left.

“Then he started calling me. And he kept calling. And I wouldn’t call him back, because I’m not one to go calling men,” she said. “Then, finally, I did call him. We went out and we had a good time. We’ve always had a good time, whatever we do. ... I think we always will.”

        

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