It is a Monday morning at Vashon Community Care, and six residents are gathered in a semi-circle in the dining room, laughing. In front of those gathered are the leaders of the group, Weslie Rodgers and Olde John Croan. His laughter, unsurprising to those who know him, rings out the loudest.

This group, called simply a Laughter Session, is a weekly event for Croan, who at 85, is still a frequent volunteer at the care center. For his many years and countless hours of service to the Vashon community, ranging from delivering food to homebound residents to presiding over the annual Memorial Day veterans’ services, he will receive the Marian Fitch Lifetime Community Service Award, presented by the Vashon Healthy Community Network (VHCN) and Vashon Youth & Family Services this evening.

This is the second year the groups have given the award, and the vote was unanimous that Croan should receive it, said Claudia Gross Shader, a board member of VHCN.

“Every single person at our meeting had had a positive experience with him,” said Gross Shader, who came to know him through her young daughter Stella, who was partnered with Croan in a FamilyLink journaling program at Vashon Care Center (VCC). “I have come to know him and consider him a friend and mentor for living life fully with grace.”

It is a safe bet to say that Croan considers his life filled with grace, too, but that was not always so.

In 1985, Croan was 60 years old and working as a Boeing flight test engineer. On Halloween that year, as he tells the story, while getting his haircut and drinking his usual double gin martini, one of two aneurysms he had in his brain burst while the other ballooned dangerously. He was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, and the ensuing operation to repair the damage destroyed some of his brain cells.

“It wiped out my memory of Boeing,” he said. “I was not employable.”

After the surgery and a two-month stay in the hospital, Croan did not go straight home, but to the Kirtland Alcohol/ Drug Care Center, where he spent three weeks.

“I was a roaring alcoholic,” he said during a recent interview in the quiet library of the Presbyterian Church, where his is a member.

At Kirtland, his life changed. “I truly turned my life over to the care of God,” he said. But the transition home to his wife Ruriko was not easy. Croan, a World War II veteran who served 22 years in the Army and Air Force, earned two master’s degrees and had 17-year career at Boeing, suddenly found himself sitting at home with nothing to do.

Even so, Croan remembers his sense of gratitude: “I felt my life had been turned around, and I needed to give back.”

And so he did. His first stop, in 1989, was the adult day health program, which provided care for seniors and respite for their caregivers out of the Lutheran church. For a time, he volunteered up to 30 hours a week with the program, helping participants, providing transportation and serving as the volunteer coordinator. The program, now called Break Time, is located at VCC, and Croan still volunteers there, singing, reading, helping with trips and offering Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day services.

“He is always so positive,” said Cara Aguilera, the Assisted Living, Break Time and Life Enrichment manager. “He lights up the room when he comes in.”

If VCC is a home away from home for Croan, so too is the Presbyterian church. The pastor there, Rev. Dan Houston, knows him well.

When people look for fulfillment, Houston noted, they often focus on themselves, but that was not the case with Croan’s generation, members of whom are known for their strong sense of duty. Still, even in that context, Croan stands out, Houston said.

“Olde John is an exceptional person from an exceptional generation,” Houston said. “There is not an organization on this Island that he has not been a board member of or a project leader for.”

The same is true at the church, where he has been an usher, greeter, deacon and Vacation Bible School teacher, where his root beer float-making skills were much in demand. He has also worked with the many 12-step programs the church houses, and, according to Houston, has saved lives doing so.

One of the most important aspects of his work at the church, Croan said, is serving as the coordinator of a weekly prayer group. The group splits its time between the church and VCC, where Croan and the other members pray and sing old-time hymns with residents.

“I never come from one of those, but I feel the presence of God,” he said. “It is a spiritual jump start for me each Wednesday.”

While Croan’s complete list of volunteer service is nearly impossible to whittle down to a manageable size, one project, he said, stands out for him. It is the VFW essay contest he has coordinated each of the last several years at the Island’s schools. Students in grades three through 12 are encouraged to write essays on a designated patriotic theme. Croan provides all the information to the teachers in August and arranges for judges and cash prizes to the top three winners in each age group. Last year 202 students participated, more than double previous years. Nine Vashon students went on to the district competition in Seattle, and seven earned a spot in the top three in their divisions. One student went on to place fourth in state.

“We really cleaned ’em,” Croan said, relishing the memory.

Calling him “magnanimous” Greg Allison, the principal of McMurray Middle School, speaks highly of the contest and Croan’s role in it. “He has a keen sense of instilling the value of citizenship and patriotism,” he said. “He is someone we could all emulate.”

When people see Croan, they often find him wearing a button that says, “Who You Are Makes a Difference.” In the last 10 years, he has ordered more than 1,500 of the buttons, he said, and has handed all but a few of them out.

Many people wonder about his name: not John, but Olde John. It is a name he gave himself back when he was in the military and he thought people were not taking him seriously enough. The change apparently worked, he said, because he was made a major two years before most people achieve that rank.

As for this evening’s award, Croan said he counts it among the most meaningful events of his life. He has invited 46 people to be there, he said, including his daughter, Jonelle Loranger, who will sing, “You are the Wind Beneath my Wings.”

“I’m going to be telling everyone there they are the wind beneath my wings. I need them. I love them,” he said.

Houston will be one of those people gathered in honor of Olde John.

“As you get to know him, you find yourself learning about love,” Houston said. “He is the real deal. He is a disciple.”