“For many a year it has hung

In the tower at old Central High

Just an iron bell to be rung

As school days flitted by.

But to those who answered its call

Daily it came to be

The reminding urge of work to do

And the voice of destiny.

For many a year he has stood

Down in the hallway below;

Watching the children come in

And watching the children go.

But to all who have seen him toil

There’s something that’s bound to stay;

It’s the cheerful smile of a man who loves

The work that he does each day.” -Earl Zeigler, writer, Rochelle News.

Not all heroes serve in war, they don’t slay dragons or climb mountains, they simply go to work every day and serve with love and compassion.  Two such heroes were Samuel Hansen and John Furland, custodians for the Rochelle school district. 

Samuel Hansen was born 1862 in Denmark and moved to America in 1883. He became custodian at the Central High School in Rochelle in 1893 at the age of 31.  For the next 45 years Samuel Hansen became simply Sammy to the hundreds of children that attended Rochelle’s only public school. 

The Central High School was a three-story building housing grades one through high school. For the students each morning started when Sammy pulled the rope which rang the bell in the bell tower. For Sammy the day started much earlier. In winter the school was heated by steam and Sammy would arrive before the sun to add coal to the boiler, heating the rooms up to a bearable temperature. In summer there was little Sammy could do other than ensure the windows were open to allow air flow. Initially there were no indoor bathrooms so Sammy would make sure each outhouse was clean and stocked with essential supplies. When the rooms were checked and the doors unlocked, Sammy would pull the rope and ring the bell calling the students to class. Ms. Phil May Sr. remembered Sammy this way, “I remember he used to look up and down the street to see if any stragglers were in sight when it was time for him to ring the bell. Bess Stevens, Bill Lux, Mabel Homblade and I lived far north and he kept us from being tardy many times by delaying ringing the bell for a few moments or by ringing it just a little longer.” 

Sammy saw many changes while at the school. The thing he noticed most was the change in his boys and girls. The children who came into first grade in 1893 grew up, graduated, and were later dropping off children of their own. The first man the children saw was the same man their parents had seen on their first day of school, Sammy. When asked if Sammy ever got cross one responded, “No, Sammy never gets cross with us.” Sammy kept the rooms clean, the boiler working, and the children safe. One student said, “Sammy’s not the janitor, he’s our janitor.” 

When the three-story school was replaced with the new Central School, in 1938, Sammy retired with 45 years of service. 

John Furland was born 1892 in Norway, at the age of 15 he heard the call of the sea and became a sailor. The next five years John worked on cargo ships and by the age of 20 had been to more than 20 countries. By 1913 john had a new bride, Magda, and had joined the Norwegian Navy. After World War I John, Magda, and their daughter Thordis moved to the United States. The only person they knew in the United States was Magda’s sister who lived in a small rural town called Rochelle. 

When they arrived in Rochelle, John found work in construction. One of his first jobs was construction of a portion of the Lincoln Highway which was to become the first fully-paved highway to cross the United States from New York to California. When that job was completed John was hired to help in the construction of a new high school in Rochelle. When the high school was finished John was looking for his next job. In December of 1921, John found work, he became the custodian at the school he had just helped build. 

It was March of 1922 that the first 200 students moved from Central High School, where Sammy was custodian, to the new Rochelle High School. Fred had many fond memories of his time at Rochelle High. His daughter and two sons attended Rochelle High in the 1930s and 1940s. He remembered many athletes, Elzie Cooper, Steve and Dale Langhoff, Dan Heltness, and others. The athlete that he remembered best was his grandson, Bob Bjorneby. Bob qualified for the 1955 State of Illinois track and field championships in the pole vault. John had been the custodian at Rochelle High School for 37 years when he retired in 1958.

It was estimated that Sam and John had watched more than 13,000 students walk through the doors of their schools. They had a combined 82 years of service to the children of Rochelle.

Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.