Jerry Smith is enjoying retirement. He keeps busy with friends, golfing, and family since his wife died last year.
After years at the helm of Johnson-Smith Window Fashions, 163 Douglas St., he says he’s proud that the business is still going strong with his son, Ken, in charge – which has freed up Smith to cross a few items off his bucket list.
On August 16, he went skydiving.
“My daughters tried to stop me, but I just wanted to go. I did it up in Maine – same place George H.W. Bush went,” says Smith, who celebrated his 85th birthday last week.
He said the adventure at skydivenewengland.com in Lebanon, Maine, was worth it.
The opportunity arose when one of the nurses at Villa Crest Nursing and Retirement Center, where his wife was a resident for several years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, asked if he wanted to join her.
“She knew I wanted to go, and so she asked me and I said, ‘Sure!’ and so we went,” says Smith.
He continues to visit the nursing home for dinner every night.
“It’s only $4, and they tell me I liven the place up,” says Smith.