A veteran volunteer proves you're never too old to volunteer

Whether it be Veterans Day, Memorial Day or Flag Day, Myron Petrakis age 94, is front and center when it comes to making sure that those who gave their life in service to country are remembered.

During this past National Volunteer Week, Myron recently received The President's Volunteer Service Award for his part in helping to create a memorial for veterans of the Vietnam War. The President's Volunteer Service Award is administered by Points of Light and celebrates the impact we can all make in bettering our communities and our world.

Myron, a 1951 graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, has been a longtime volunteer. One of his biggest projects was documenting the history of the Village of Norridge, Illinois. Myron served for 51 years as Village Historian & Secretary of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. As historian he was asked to research alumni of Ridgewood High School who had been killed in Vietnam. In addition to three alumni at Ridgewood, three other veterans from surrounding schools came to light. Over a 10 year period volunteers raised funds for the memorial and located all of the veterans' family members in various parts of the country. The memorial was dedicated in the courtyard of Ridgewood high school in November 2015.

Myron and his wife Catherine of 63 years have been residents at Brookdale Hoffman Estates Senior Living for the past 2 years. Myron proves that age is no barrier to volunteering and continues his volunteer work at Brookdale Hoffman Estates whenever he can, including presiding over the recent Flag Day Ceremony and arranging for an honor guard to come to the community on Memorial Day. Myron says this is all very personal - Myron served in the Navy during World War II on the minesweeper, USS Murrelet.