Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough was all set to throw a little party in Chicago for Mary Ann Anifer, of Palos Hills.

There was going to be cake.

It was going to be in a nice warm office.

Instead, Yarbrough left her nice warm office and spent some time on a gray Wednesday morning in freezing weather with a few snowflakes in Hickory Hills to honor Anifer for 59 years of election judge service.

“She turned me down,” Yarbrough said of the party plans. “She said she’s got to be here for the kids.”

Anifer, 77, has been a crossing guard at Conrady Junior High School for 10 years and wasn’t going to miss a day of work even to accept an award. So Yarbrough came to town and made the presentation near Anifer’s station at 97th Street and South Roberts Road.

“I think it’s important to send a message out there that there are people like Mary Ann,” Yarbrough said. “I’ve talked to a lot of judges. There is nobody that I have yet met who has done it 59 years. I’ve met judges who have done it for 39 years. Twenty years. Ten years. And of course, our newbies. And I appreciate all of them. But 59 years? I’m like ‘who does that?’”

Anifer does that.

She started judging in Chicago in 1961 and hasn’t missed an election since. In recent years, she has served in Orland Park and at the Green Hills Library in Palos Hills.

“I feel like I am helping people,” she said. “This is the greatest country to live in and they give you so much opportunity. If I’m not there, maybe someone else won’t be there either. I can’t do that to the people because to me, it’s a privilege to vote. I want to make sure that every person who wants to vote has that opportunity.”

With early voting becoming more popular, judges work weeks rather than one day. This year, Anifer worked in Orland Park during early voting and Yarbrough came to visit. That’s when the clerk found out about Anifer’s longtime dedication.

Yarbrough said that Anifer was so busy that they didn’t get a chance to do much talking. But when Yarbrough found out Anifer had put in almost six decades of work, it resonated with her. Because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, it was important to have good workers overseeing the voting, according to Yarbrough.

“This has been a horrible year for elections, but I’ve seen the human spirit just burst out because people like Mary Ann showed up to serve the public,” Yarbrough said. “And there is a lot to be said about that and I appreciate it so much.”

Yarbrough added that the election in the spring was especially challenging.

“It was a mess,” she said. “People were afraid. I get it. There are people of a certain age who should be scared to death and not be out here at all. But here she is. I am extremely grateful and thankful for her advocacy, her hard work and her stick-to-it-iveness because she is here every single time we have an election.”

Anifer’s niece, Maria Sanchez of Tinley Park, also braved the cold for the ceremony and said she is proud of her aunt.

“She’s an inspiration to us all,” she said. “She is awesome, and the community is lucky to have her. She is always there for everyone. This means a lot to her. She doesn’t like a lot of attention, but it’s nice that everyone is out here for her. This is very, very cool.”

Anifer said she never married or had kids but the children at her crossing over the years are like her kids. She was born and raised in Chicago and worked in marketing there. She moved to the south suburbs 39 years ago.

The corner where she received the award is the same corner that has given her plenty of joy over the years. But one day in 2018, it also gave her some pain after a car struck her and she missed six months of the job rehabbing.

Her take on it? Better her than one of her charges.

“I would rather take a hit before letting a kid get hit,” she said.

Anifer said she wants to continue being a crossing guard until she gets kicked out.

When asked how long she wanted to continue as an election judge, Anifer said, “another 59 years.”

When Yarbrough heard that, she screamed, “Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhh!”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.