![]() “Sitting around the house was just not his thing. “He got bored sitting in the house,” Winfred Mitchell said. That’s when he decided to become a crossing guard, his family said. He was a longtime employee at Acme Backing and then Pitney Bowes before retiring. Roosevelt Mitchell, a native of Eastover, S.C., had lived in Stamford since 1957. ![]() His father had been a deacon at Union Baptist Church. “We're thankful that his legacy (was) not only something that was built within our family but that was also built outside of the family as well as in our church,” Winfred Mitchell said. One of Mitchell’s sons, Winfred, said his family was thrilled by the community’s effort to honor his father. He was married to LaGretta Beckham Mitchell and had three daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. And my daughter was like, ‘I'm too big for your pocket!’”Īmid several health issues, Mitchell died a few days before what would have been his 82nd birthday. And he would say that to other little ones. “One thing he would say to my little daughter when we would go to pick up my son when she was in preschool was ‘I'm gonna put you in my pocket!’ She loved that. Whether their children attended Newfield Elementary School or not, everyone in the neighborhood knew Mitchell, she said. ![]() “There were a couple of homes (where) I was unable to get an answer, but everyone else who answered the door (was) like, ‘Oh, my God. ![]() It wasn’t difficult to find people who wanted to sign. Roosevelt took great care and pride in keeping our children safe and he is greatly missed.”įor a commemorative sign to be put up on a city street or a segment of a street, the city must receive a petition signed by at least two-thirds of the owners of the properties on the street, according to Stamford’s ordinances.Ĭanidate-Kapasouris said she reached out to several city representatives after Mitchell died last September and members of the community floated the idea of having the street corner dedicated to him in some way.Īfter learning about the process for commemorative signs, Canidate-Kapasouris went door to door on Harvest Hill Lane asking for signatures. “He would often come into the school and, when he did, students and staff would flock to see and speak with him. “He was a kind and gentle man who gave us all a big smile and wave, from his corner, every single day,” Longo said in a statement. ![]()
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