John Gets His Wings Again

John, 90, a resident at Chartwell Orchards in Vineland, ON is a veteran of the British Air Force (BAF). John joined the BAF in 1950 and after rigorous training to become a pilot, received his wings in 1952. He has lived in England and the United States before ultimately coming to Canada.

After his work with the Air Force, John got married and had two children who both remain very active in his life today. John eventually ended up in the finance industry and worked at Citibank for many years. “My wife and I were blessed with the opportunity to travel all over the world”, John says.

John lived in Niagara-on-the-Lake for 15 years before making his way to Chartwell Orchards. Despite being a relatively new resident, he is no stranger to the senior’s environment. After retiring in England, John worked in an organization for seniors and he would help by driving seniors to appointments and other tasks. John remains extremely active at Chartwell Orchards, making sure to participate in all the activities, especially the exercise classes. He enjoys reading and is very social at the residence.

John loves to look at photos from his past and often reminisces about his time in the BAF and flying planes. With life being so busy, John never found his way back into the pilot’s seat since leaving the BAF and has missed that sense of excitement. Due to mobility issues and budget considerations, John never thought he would have the opportunity to be near a plane again.

On June 24th, The Chartwell Foundation brought John and his loved ones to the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association to take a tour of the facility and be able to hop into the cockpit once again!

“I think it’s wonderful. People with different difficulties, whether physical or mental, just need to be taken care of and sometimes its beyond what a family can do themselves. So the fact that you have places like Chartwell to take care of people and then go above and beyond to organize things like this for the people they’ve gotten to know – I think its fantastic.”

- Chris on The Chartwell Foundation granting wishes to Canadian Seniors, John’s son

John is looking in to the plane
John is posing in front of the plane