Glenda Hames

Jack Trew couldn’t understand what his daughter was trying to say, so she pulled the award plaque close to his face.

“Dad,” Glenda D. Hames begged. “How do you feel about being recognized?”

Sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a black fedora and an old blue sweater, the 91-year-old’s cloudy eyes looked away when she spoke.

Much of a person’s identity can be lost and forgotten with age. The youthful struggles of love, family and work often are replaced with a failing body and mind. But at St. Barnabas this week, two men living in a nursing home were reminded of their former glory.

Noble Izeman “Jack” Trew and Herman Lamb, both residents of St. Barnabas Senior Living Services, were named to Who’s Who in Tennessee Nursing Homes, a program run by the Tennessee Health Care Association to honor residents who were business and community leaders. More than 100 nursing home residents were named across the state, said Katherine Pesut Moffat, a spokeswoman for the health care association.

“We’re privileged to serve some legendary people,” said St. Barnabas President and CEO Eric Boston. “Their hard work, integrity and contributions to the Chattanooga community are an inspiration.”

For 25 years, Mr. Trew ran Trew and Sons Dairy Farm in Apison, waking at 3 a.m. to deliver bottled milk to routes around Chattanooga, Ms. Hames said.

Mr. Trew and his wife, Shirley, were married for 70 years before she died of cancer, and after retirement both were active volunteers in the Civil Defense Reserve on Lookout Mountain, said Ms. Hames.

“They were really dedicated to helping people that couldn’t help themselves,” she said, holding back tears. “I am thankful to still have him. He was a great father. Dad would never have bragged on himself.”

Mr. Lamb, who would not give his age, and his wife of 67 years, Dorothy, owned a camera shop in downtown Chattanooga for more than 50 years, but the couple also loved trains.

In 1959, Mr. Lamb helped create the Great Mountain Special steam train excursion from Chattanooga to Tracy City, Tenn., and later he helped organize the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

“Kids play with little trains,” said Mr. Lamb. “We played with the big ones.”

Mr. Lamb, a photographer, said he has taken more photographs of women in military uniform than anyone else in the country. During World War II, he was contracted by the military to photograph groups at the Women’s Army Corps training center in Fort Oglethorpe before they left for war, he said.

“I am very proud of the award,” said Mr. Lamb, sitting near his wife, who visits him every day at St. Barnabas. “I never did things for awards. The reward was in doing it.”

Today, most people don’t understand her father, Ms. Hames said. As his personality has changed over time, it’s even hard for her to remember how things were, she said.

Mr. Lamb, who no longer can stand on his own, said there is a lot of sadness in the golden years, which makes little honors such as this one so special.

“It’s just one of those things,” he said. “Growing old, it happens.”