Adventures in Service and Retirement
From resident John Medailleu’ s adventurous days as a Army helicopter pilot to his tranquil life at New Pond Village
A High Flying Serviceman
John Medailleu has lived his whole life in the Walpole area—but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t experienced the world. As a student at Northeastern University, he joined the ROTC. “They sent me to Wiggins (Airways) in Norwood to learn how to fly fixed-wing planes. That’s what I thought I was getting into in the military,” John recalls. But when he entered the Army, they put him on helicopters. “I didn’t like the idea of helicopters at all, but now I’m glad I did. I really enjoyed flying the helicopters—a lot harder to fly!”
John served three years in the Army and was stationed in West Germany in 1963 and 1964. “At that time the Cold War was at its peak and it was supposed to be a dangerous area. It really wasn’t,” he smiles.
We Just Fell in Love with New Pond
Back home, John had gotten married and had a career in computer project management. He and his wife settled in South Walpole to raise four children. By 2020, they decided their home was more than they wanted to manage. “We were either going to move to a place like this or buy a ranch house that was all one level. We started looking at different places and we came to New Pond and just fell in love with it. The people seemed so friendly, even when we were visiting they would say hello to you when you were walking around and we didn’t see that at the other places.”
Trying New Things
It’s been quite a while since John flew helicopters, but he still likes to try new things. He and his wife get plenty of chances to do that at New Pond Village. “I go to all the exercise programs, I enjoy the social hours, and I like to read so I like the library and the convenience. I get my hair cut here. I do physical therapy here. It’s very convenient.” The only thing they don’t seem to do since moving is cook. John jokes that they use the stove for storage.
One of the things the Medailleus’ appreciate most about New Pond Village, however, is that they know their needs will be taken care of. “If we need care we can move to assisted living or memory care and still be in the same community with each other. You can just walk down the corridor to visit if you have to and I thought that was a good aspect of it.”