With a list of accomplishments and volunteer causes like John O’Hara’s, you can’t help but wonder how he does it all. The Narragansett resident is involved with countless councils and community organizations. It would be exhausting for anyone, but John is 92. “Everybody asks me how I keep going,” he says. “I’ve always been one to keep working, keep moving around. You’d be surprised what satisfaction you get out of helping people. I think it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
The World War II veteran spent his career with the United States Postal Service and as a portrait photographer, coaching sports for teams his six sons played on. He and his wife Beverly moved from Seekonk to South County in 2003. Then, he says, “In 2004, my wife died, and I thought I had died. We were together 55 years. I donated the rest of my life to volunteering.” Now, he’s a legislative officer with the VFW, active in the AARP, volunteers at the South Kingstown Senior Center and its Senior Youth Group, serves on the Silver Haired Legislature and the Senior Action Council, regularly testifying and lobbying at the State House. He also travels around Rhode Island giving talks to students and to seniors and veterans about their rights. John even won a national award from the AARP as their 2006 Rhode Island volunteer of the year. “I was helping with so many different things,” he says. “Any time they had anything going, I was there.”
The causes John is passionate about stem from the things he’s experienced in his life. His work with the Silver Haired Legislature comes from a desire to stand up for senior’s rights. “We meet in the State House once a month, and look over bills dealing with seniors,” he explains. “One of the things we fought for was home care. We didn’t want people being put in nursing homes. We wanted people who could afford to live in their own homes to have home care. Almost 90% of the funds that came in were for nursing homes. We fought that some of it should go to home care, and we won.” John also sits on the Long Term Care Coordinating Committee, which makes sure seniors in homes are being treated well, and contributes monthly articles to the AARP, the Federal Retirees and his veterans organization.
He’s also a huge advocate for awareness of senior and veteran’s rights. “I go around and talk at senior centers, nursing homes and any place there are seniors,” John says, “on social security, Medicare, on what’s happening and why we need to keep Social Security alive, why Medicare can’t take the brunt of the cuts that are coming. If everyone’s informed, maybe they can take a closer look at who they’re voting for. They should know what’s happening. Unless they stand up and fight for themselves, they’re not going to have anything.” When he isn’t talk- ing to seniors about pressing issues, he’s volunteering at the Senior Center, helping to raise funds that keep the center going. During the holidays, he’s there putting together baskets of food for people in need. “I didn’t join [all of these organizations] to sit at home,” John says. “I want to be active.”
John’s also got some remarkable war stories. He survived a submarine attack during the first invasion of Africa, served on the USS Alabama and has a book of wartime poetry at the Naval Library in Newport. He has given talks through the Warwick Rotary, and at many local schools about his experiences. “In honor of my wife, I never accept any money,” he says. “I just go out and talk. It’s what keeps me alive. I’m only 92 though.”
As for why John commits himself so passionately to these causes, the answer is simple. “It makes me feel good,” he says. “When people said I was too old, it used to burn me up. I said ‘I can do as much as any young person,’ and I’m still doing it.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here