Harold Weary, following hip replacement surgery, knew immediately where he’d pursue his therapy. He had seen the Lutheran Home, in Arlington Heights, provide compassionate care for his wife, and had heard of advancements on the campus that have been dedicated to successful short-term rehabilitation and therapy. Harold shares, “it is great to have a place like the Lutheran Home in the community.”

Harold Weary and his daughter, Marlys, enjoy a walk on the campus of the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights.

Typical for hip replacement patients, Harold came to the Lutheran Home’s premier rehabilitation and therapy unit unable to swing his legs out of bed to even try to get going. “Within days,” he was happy to report, “I was up and getting around.”

Not typical for hip replacement patients, is that Harold Weary is 103 years of age. From what all those involved with Harold’s surgery and recovery can determine, he carries the most mature hip replacement ever on record. His response, “I was adamant that I needed it.”

His insistence should be of no surprise. Harold Weary has confidently looked forward his entire life. Growing up on a farm with very little, Harold insisted he’d find a way to go to college to continue his education and did so by working multiple jobs around the campus of Nebraska Wesleyan. As he graduated in the middle of the Great Depression, facing a market with very little job opportunity, he moved forward by continuing his education at the University of Nebraska, earning an MBA.

As a career United Airlines financial professional, he was a part of a corporate growth period that saw the company go from about 5,000 to 85,000 employees in his 31 years of employment. When he retired, he kept looking forward as a tireless volunteer. In his 40-plus years as a volunteer at the Mt. Prospect Public Library, he has been part of a growth period that has seen a few hundred volumes in a community home grow into one of the most admired, modern libraries in all of Chicagoland.

Last Friday, Harold returned home to continue with his rehabilitation. Walking out of the Lutheran Home his eyes were set on what is ahead of him. He will keep his mind and body active, and looks forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas travels to see family with his daughter, Marlys.

The Lutheran Home, and all Lutheran Life Communities, would like to thank Harold Weary for the inspirational neighbor he is to all of us. An insistence to make tomorrow better than today is one that we share and celebrate with our friend, Harold.