Something for George

When George Willis Spann went to work as a school janitor in Pueblo, Colo., he had no idea of staying long. "I figured I'd try it for 30 days," says he. "But then something happened." At the end of 30 days, George decided to try it for a year, and the years turned into decades. When anyone asked him why he stayed, George always had the same answer: "I got fascinated being with children."

The children of Pueblo also got fascinated being with "Pop" Spann. Each morning at opening time, he was there in his old striped trousers and black bow tie, waiting to greet them. If they cut themselves, he would bandage them. If someone broke a bicycle, he could always fix it. And when they wanted him to play with them, he was always willing, even though it meant staying long after closing time to get his own work done.

In 34 years, George has seen thousands of children come & go. He lent them money and bought them presents. Often he paid for school equipment out of his own pocket, and at Christmas he would buy a paper mural of the Nativity for the cafeteria, "just because I figured it was a good thing for the kids to look at."

But last fall, George learned that under a new state law he would have to retire, because he is 68. "It'll be like a long summer," said George of his retirement. "And you know, there's nothing quite so lonesome as a school in the summer."

George was not the only one to feel the blow. As soon as the news broke, the people of Pueblo decided to do something for him. The P.T.A. first suggested the idea; then the student council at George's school made the same suggestion. Soon, the whole town was behind it.

Last week a group of distinguished Pueblo citizens gathered by an empty lot on the edge of town. A few minutes later, George appeared, and School Superintendent Ernest M. Hanson began to speak. "You have been a father to hundreds of boys & girls," said he, "at a time when a little personal attention meant more than ' medical aid . . . This honor is in recognition of the importance of the position of custodian in the great process of education." Then he handed George a spade to break ground for the town's $375,000 new-school building. The name the town had given the school would be long remembered in Pueblo--George Willis Spann.

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