VETERANS
awaited home opened, the first veteran to walk through the
doors was Port St. Lucie resident Calvin Heathman.
Heathman is a member of The Greatest Generation. At
95, the celebrated World War II Navy and Army veteran has
proudly served his country, raised a family and worked a
lifetime to provide for his family and contribute to both his
community and society through service and volunteerism.
After visiting the area on a vacation in the mid ’70s, the
Indiana native and his wife, Judy, decided that this would
be a good place to purchase a home and retire in the sunshine.
Port St. Lucie Magazine 29
In 1978, they moved to Florida.
TIME TO MOVE ON
When his beloved Judy passed a decade ago, Heathman
continued to stay in the family home, which he says was
blessedly near to his daughter, Rhonda Blakey, and her family.
But when he learned that there would be a new veterans
nursing home constructed nearby, Heathman started thinking
that the timing was perfect to make another transition.
“I wasn’t getting any younger,” he says, “and the housing
market was at its peak. I realized it was not good to be living
alone, and I didn’t want to become a worry to my family.”
Heathman applied to become a resident, filling out an
extensive and comprehensive application, which he says
covered his military and life history. He was grateful for
the delay in the facility’s opening because it gave him two
years to make up his mind and get used to the idea of living
with others and giving up a good chunk of his independence
in exchange for the care and safety the nursing home
would provide.
Moving day for Heathman was July 5, just after Indepen- >>
ANTHONY INSWASTY
Heathman, who served the country in both the Army and Navy during
World War II and the Korean War, feels right at home at the facility.
ANTHONY INSWASTY
After years of planning, the Ardie R. Copas State Veterans' Nursing home in Port St. Lucie welcomed Heathman as its first resident in July.