This Gentleman Could Teach Us All a Little Something About Being a Gracious Neighbor

Last month, Claudia Olsen looked out at the row of boxwood shrubs that line her sidewalk and noticed they were in dire need of pruning. 

“I was thinking,‘I’d better get out there,’ ” remembers Olsen.

But before she got around to it, Olsen discovered a few days later that her boxwoods had all been neatly trimmed.

Right away, Olsen recognized the handiwork of her neighbor, John Dreyer, who is well-known in his neighborhood for quietly doing good deeds for those around him without asking anything in return. It’s the little things that mean a lot; for example, each morning, he places newspapers on front porches, where they can be easily reached. On garbage days, he returns the emptied bins back to their place. 

“He never looks for recognition,” says Olsen. “It’s like there’s a magic elf or something in the neighborhood.”

She pauses for a moment.

“Actually, it’s more like having a guardian angel.”

Dreyer, 86, is a retired civil engineer who earned his degree at Columbia University in New York on the GI bill after he enlisted in January 1943. When he and his wife settled in Elmhurst to raise their five children, Dreyer supported the family, working as an estimator for construction projects, including two projects at O’Hare: an elevated roadway that skirts the domestic terminals, and a CTA terminal entrance. Dreyer also estimated about 50 bridges in Illinois, mostly in the Chicago area.

“I enjoyed it tremendously,” he says. “There was a sense of satisfaction, getting the job and making a profit for the company I worked for. I wasn’t always appreciated, but I had the satisfaction, anyway.”

Dreyer’s wife died in 1988. All five of his children married and moved away to parts of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. He is the proud grandfather of 13 and great-grandfather of three.

'Trying to Be a Blessing to Mankind'

Each morning, Dreyer places his neighbors' newspapers on their front stoop. 

“I do it seven days a week. So they know I’m concerned about them,” says Dreyer. “I always pick up their waste containers after they’ve been emptied and put them where they normally keep them on their property.”

"It's his routine in the morning," says his neighbor, Linda Wilczewski. "I think that's why he stays so young."

Linda and her husband, Paul Wilczewski, have lived across from Dreyer for 27 years. 

“You try to beat him to it, but he just knows,” Linda says, laughing.

He even shovels sidewalks in the wintertime "as a service so people don’t slip,” says Dreyer. “Just trying to be a blessing to mankind, you might say.

“And it has its rewards, not that I do it for reward.”

But all these kindnesses pale in comparison to the fact that Dreyer has planted and maintained vegetable gardens in some of his neighbors' back yards for several years. 

As Dreyer walks towards his own back yard, he points out the rows of tomato cages he’s neatly put away in his garage until next spring. Last summer, Dreyer said he planted three separate vegetable gardens in neighbors' yards, in addition to just a few plants he cultivated in his own yard. 

“But I was disappointed,” he says, pointing to a large tree on the south end of his property. There’s too much shade from the tree.”

Olsen says Dreyer began her vegetable garden behind her garage  years ago and has kept it up ever since. Olsen’s family enjoys tomatoes, onions, green peppers, zucchini and cucumbers throughout the summer. 

“He spends all of his time taking care of others,” she says. “He plants a vegetable garden in our yard, tends to it every day, weeding and watering and picks the vegetables and leaves them on our porch. We are not the only family that he does this for.”

Wilczewski agrees. Dreyer started tending a garden for her family two years ago. 

“He’s what neighborhood should be about—getting to know each other,” says Wilczewski. Even when new neighbors move in, Dreyer takes the time to introduce himself. 

“He’ll stop, chat and learn about you,” says Wilczewski. 

Faith and Good Deeds a 'Part of Life'

Talking to Dreyer, it doesn’t take long to discover that his faith is central to his life.

“I was saved in 1950, so I’ve been studying scripture for 61 years,” says Dreyer, a member of in Elmhurst. “It’s part of life. I’m a Christian and we’re admonished to show forth Christ to the world, and this can be seen in deeds. That’s my motivation—that it will be a witness to people, of sorts.”

Every Monday, Dreyer takes his Bible and drives to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center where he spends time with boys and girls 13-17 years old. 

“I teach the Bible, try to lead them to the Lord,” he says, simply.

But in the garden, when Dreyer and Olsen work side by side digging and weeding, they don’t necessarily talk about the Bible. Sometimes they tackle more timely issues.  

“I’m a liberal Democrat and he’s a conservative,” Olsen says. “So we’ve had discussions about different things like global warming, which he doesn’t believe in, and lots of other things.”

Even though they don’t always see eye to eye, the discussion never gets heated or disrespectful.

“I think he’s given me a new appreciation for people with different views than myself,” says Olsen.

And despite the age difference, Dreyer is often the one encouraging Olsen to keep going.

“He’s got all this energy,” she says, laughing. “I’ll be out in the garden weeding, digging things up and then I’ll say, ‘I’ve gotta take a break.’ ”

But Dreyer, working right alongside her, prods her on. 

“Oh, c’mon Claudia,” he’ll say. “Just work for another hour. We can do it!”

“In these times, we’ve all become so cynical,” says Olsen. “It’s nice to know there are people who are so generous, so big-hearted like John.

“He really is one in a million.”