Bob Medearis walks down the hallway slowly, but with purpose.
Multiple knee and hip replacements have left him using a walker, but he doesn’t let his limited mobility deter him.
“He stops and talks to everyone anyway,” his granddaughter, Sheena Gamble, said with a smile.
At 90 years old, Medearis still finds new ways every day to remain relevant and make meaningful connections with others, his family said.
Whether he’s ministering to the sick in the hospital or being surrounded by his family – including the unborn first great-grandchild he said he is thrilled to get to meet in January – Medearis’ love for life and the people around him is evident.
“He’s the rock of our family,” said Erin Hangstefer, his granddaughter.
A former medic in the Navy, Medearis still makes time each weekday to exercise at the Hamilton Family YMCA. His water aerobics class said no one deserved a birthday celebration more than a man who was on the shore on D-Day – so they planned a surprise party hosted at the Shallowford Road facility.
Since the death of his wife, Betty, in 2007, Medearis has lived with his daughter, Susan Kelly, and her husband John.
“He is the most positive man,” Kelly said at the event, unable to continue with tears in her eyes.
Medearis’ son, John, said since his mother’s passing, family and community responsibility have kept his father going. As a former children’s pastor and member of Abba’s House since 1973, sincerity and compassion for everyone he comes in contact with are a huge part of who he has always been, John said of his father.
“Even now, Betty and I aren’t truly separated, because she’s always on my mind and in my heart,” Medearis said. He often talks to her, and still sings “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” just the way he used to sing to her.
It doesn’t take more than a glance around the packed YMCA room to see the loyalty Medearis inspires in the people he cares about. More people showed up than there was room for to surprise the veteran on his birthday.
“Once he learns your name, he’ll never forget it and he’ll never forget you,” his daughter said.