Ardell Johnson
He stays busy helping others
In the morning, one of the common sounds along Denbigh Drive is the puttering of one of its residents, Ardell Johnson.
“I love to putter in the yard, and if I find something that I can do, I do it,” said Johnson, 76, who retired 13 years ago.
Some of that “puttering” includes countless small favors for his neighbors, such as plowing their driveways, shoveling sidewalks and fixing anything that turns up broken.
The retired employee of Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Co., where Johnson spent 35 years repairing furnaces, said he just likes working with his hands. His neighbors say he’s the epitome of altruism.
“I’m nobody special; I just like to help them out,” he said. “I know they appreciate it, and they give back to me, too, with little things like bringing me cakes, cookies.”
Johnson has lived at 18 Denbeigh Drive since 1982. After retiring, Johnson, who was raised during the Great Depression and was used to working all his life, found there was a lot of free time to kill.
“It’s no big deal to me to do those things; I have to be outside,” he said. “Also, I never met anyone who wasn’t a friend.”
Never taking payments offered to him, Johnson has raked leaves on his neighbor’s yards, fixed cars, changed flat tires, cut down trees, walked dogs, picked weeds, babysat homes and rescued a flower garden while protecting its nemesis — several chipmunks that Johnson safely captured with a handmade cage and then released.
“I’m not an ace at anything, but I’ve tried everything — plumbing, engineering, carpentry, even housekeeping,” Johnson said.
He noted one occasion where a neighbor had asked him to chainsaw their piano in half.
“I turned it into firewood,” he said, eyes twinkling at the memory.
— Hieu Pham
