World War II veteran spreads cheer through handshakes, songs (video) |


Trenton Sperry |

Every morning, John Mehaffy, 95, gets out of bed and pulls on a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. He adjusts a white baseball cap with "The Doorman" in solid black letters on it and makes his way to the dining area at MeadowView of Greeley, 5300 29th St.

He sits in a corner of the dining area, the only spot with a clear view of the front door while he eats breakfast.

He doesn't want to miss a chance to say hello.

Four years ago, when Mehaffy first arrived at the assisted living center, he sat down near the front door and began greeting all who walked through the doors.

It didn't take long before Mehaffy became known as John the Doorman, and someone saw fit to place the cap on his head.

"They gave me a cap and gave me a chair and here I am," he said with a smile.

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When a visitor or patron approaches the center's doors, Mehaffy gets up, leans on his red walker with a bright yellow Iowa license plate affixed to the front, and presses the button to open the doors.

He offers a smile, a warm greeting and a handshake — or maybe a hug, if you're an elderly woman — then turns around and sits back down.

But Mehaffy doesn't consider his entertainment duties over at the door. Once you're inside, at least once a week, he sings from a corner of the dining area while his daughter, Shirley Olson of Greeley, plays a wooden grand piano beside him.

A smile spreads across his cheeks when he finishes. It's the same smile that greets visitors at the front door.

Mehaffy's first wife, who died in 1985, played the piano and organ for decades. She was a church organist for 25 years, and Mehaffy would sing from the church choir.

Now it's Olson who plays piano while Mehaffy belts out a tune. She was given piano lessons as a child, and Mehaffy said she was good about practicing. Like her mother, she obviously enjoys playing, having majored in piano performance in college.

The family's fondness of music extended to Christmas traditions. On Christmas mornings, before gifts could be opened, each member of the family had to name their favorite Christmas song, starting with the youngest.

"We all, as a group, had to sing each song," Olson said. "He's just always loved to sing."

Mehaffy said he does remember those Christmases with his wife and children — particularly the joy his wife got from decorating their home. But Olson said she remembers them for other reasons.

"They still had orphanages in those days," Olson said. "Dad would take the kids' Christmas clothes from the year before to the orphans. He made sure they had socks and shoes, too."

Focusing on memories isn't something Mehaffy concerns himself with often anymore. Instead, he tries to brighten the world one person at a time.

"I just enjoy people. That's why I'm here," Mehaffy said. "I hope it brings them a little joy, too, to have me greet them."

It's a simple routine, and Mehaffy's conversations are often short and fleeting. But like all of us, Mehaffy has a story, and if you sit with him for a few minutes, he might tell you about the small but important role he played in American history.

'Anything with music I enjoy'

Mehaffy was born Jan. 12, 1919, on a small farm in Morning Sun, Iowa, a town of 800. His father, who emigrated from Ireland in 1872, died when Mehaffy was 6 months old from an unknown illness.

"My mother never married again," Mehaffy said. "She raised six of us. We worked out butts off. I mean, we had to because that was a must in our day."

Mehaffy doesn't remember many Christmases from his childhood. Those were hard times, he said.

But around age 2, Mehaffy began a lifelong habit of singing. When he was old enough, he joined the church choir, a tradition he participated in for decades.

"Anything with music I enjoy," he said.

His love of music was shared by a classmate, Helen Browning, who played the piano. The two began dating in high school and were named the most devoted couple by their peers.

At their high school graduation, Browning played the piano and Mehaffy sang in the choir.

Two years later, on Oct. 2, 1937, they were married in Browning's parents' home, in front of a large fireplace. They were both 18 years old.

Four years after John and Helen exchanged their vows, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Three years after the attack, on April 8, 1944, Mehaffy enlisted in the U.S. Army in Amarillo, Texas, at the age of 25.

'They didn't hurt me a bit'

Standing in line at the enlistment office in Amarillo, the wind whipping around him, Mehaffy turned to the man behind him.

"I asked, 'Does the wind blow like this all the time?' He said, 'Heck no, sometimes it turns around and blows the other way,' " Mehaffy said. The tired joke still brings him a belly laugh.

Mehaffy was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces, the precursor to the U.S. Air Force. He completed basic training at Lowry Field in Denver, then was moved from city to city with the whims of the Texas wind.

He was put to work performing maintenance repairs and upgrades to various planes and radio systems. At one point, he and his crewmates were tasked with making modifications to a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber. The crew was told to alter the bomb bay to accommodate a single, large weapon, and to move the gun turrets to the rear of the plane.

After the repairs had been completed, Mehaffy said he watched the plane take off Aug. 6, 1945, from the island of Tinian. The words "Enola Gay" had been painted on its side the night before.

The plane was the first to drop an atomic bomb, and Mehaffy said he learned of the plane's mission after it left.

"None of us knew before that," he said.

Mehaffy choked up when he said he'll never forget how he felt when the plane returned to the airfield. It's easy to understand his emotion; it's likely Mehaffy's work directly contributed to ending the second World War.

He, of course, would be the last to claim such credit.

"We were all just doing our jobs," he said. "I had a lot of experiences, that's for sure, and they didn't hurt me a bit."

Mehaffy was honorably discharged March 2, 1946. After two years teaching fellow veterans to be farmers, he and his wife moved to Northwood, Iowa, and raised three children.

John and Helen retired in 1976, and moved to Sun City, Ariz., where Helen died July 10, 1985. She was 66.

Overall, Mehaffy said he's lived a fulfilling life, and that makes it easy to share his happiness with others, either with a song or a handshake.

"If you enjoy something, you try to do the best you can," he said. "That's why I'm here at the front door. I do the best I can, because I just like people."