At 85, veteran is cherished nursing home volunteer

Good Samaritan Society enlists Art Harris four days a week to keep residents company

At 85, veteran is cherished nursing home volunteer

85-year-old Art Harris is checking in for a day of volunteering at Good Samaritan Society – Loveland Village in Colorado.

“It’s wonderful for me to get here and see the people and do what I do,” Harris says about serving in the long-term care wing.

Four days a week, the retired Air Force veteran enlists for duty under activities manager Erin Andre.

“I just looked this morning, and he’s logged 491 hours of service since October of 2023 in all of the different positions,” says Andre.

“He’s in the friendly visitor program where he specifically visits those individuals who’ve served our country. Then he also is at the reception desk welcoming people helping them find their way.”

Outside of operating the entry point, Harris’ favorite activity is what he calls “visiting the troops.”

A Korean and Vietnam War veteran himself, he believes recognizing vets for their service makes a difference.

“Being in the service, I know what the gentlemen are going through,” says Harris. “I went through it with them. I know how they are and what they need to talk about to feel better for themselves.”

Harris even helped obtain Veterans Honoring Veterans statues for more than a dozen residents.

“It makes me happy. I see the smile on their face, and I know they’re happy,” Harris says with a smile.

Andre adds, “I believe he finds just as much support here as the support he provides for the veterans that he visits.”

Wife was a resident

Harris first came to campus when his wife Jeanette moved into long-term care, where he visited her every day.

“My wife had dementia,” Harris says with emotion. “Very pretty lady. Yep.”

“I was married 63 years to her, and it’s been 19 months since she passed.”

Because the Society became a home for Jeanette and Art Harris, he kept stopping by after she was gone.

“The support system I have in this facility, it’s amazing. That’s why I spend a lot of time up here,” Harris says.

Andre says, “he’d come in the building. He’d stop at all of our offices, chat with us. ‘How’s it going?’ I think that was a way for him to continue to get support going through the grieving process of losing Jeanette.”

It made her ask, why doesn’t he just become a volunteer here?

“So, the next time I saw him in the hallway I said, ‘Art, you come here anyway, let’s put you to work,’” Andre says.

“He just has a way of really connecting. Really being able to make a connection with a person and even just visiting with them to find out what their needs are.”

Pouring dozens of hours into residents who may not get a lot of visitors.

“It is a great joy to me. I feel good when I leave in the evening,” Harris says.

Like another home

Having a volunteer on a mission to be there for others, Andre says, is “everything.”

“They enhance our ability to provide all those dimensions of wellness to our residents,” Andre says. “We’re a place that can help Art live out his current sense of purpose, which is to share love, share joy, to make people’s day in all the ways that he does here.”

Andre believes Harris “knows that he has a home here. He knows that we want him to move in when that time is right. We would love to welcome him as a resident.”

As it happens, Harris just got on the waiting list for a village townhome.

“I think it’s another home for me,” Harris says. “My future is ahead of me.”

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Posted In Sanford Stories, Senior Services, Veterans