Milo native Lyford has come out of his shell as hospital volunteer in Presque Isle

By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer

    Though not a doctor, Fred Lyford spends a lot of time at the hospital. The Presque Isle resident has been volunteering at The Aroostook Medical Center for 22 years.
    “I like meeting people,” he said. “I think everybody in this hospital knows me.”

Fred Lyford

    Lyford, who was born in Milo, was the impetus for a new patient welcome program at the hospital — Fred’s Friendly Flowers.
    Each morning, Monday through Friday, Lyford personally delivers sprigs of flowers to new inpatients at the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital that the patient can enjoy in his or her room for the duration of their stay and then take home upon discharge. Hospital officials expect approximately 50 deliveries per week, or 2,600 deliveries for the year.
    Due to infection control and allergies, the flowers will either be dried or silk. The types of flowers will be determined by the season and will be gathered at the stem, wildflower style. Patients can hang them on a hook on the whiteboard across from their bed. A card will accompany each sprig with a message from the hospital to the patient.
    Lyford said he readily agreed to be the delivery person.
    “I said ‘yes’ because it would be fun,” the 89-year-old said. “There’s just something about it; it’s hard to explain. I never used to be much for talking, but that’s changed a little bit. It gives you something to start with when you have something like that, and then you go from there. The main thing is that it is something that is given to them.
    “You’d be surprised how many patients are glad to see somebody come in like that. The first fellow I gave a flower to came right up out of that bed he was so glad to see me; it was somebody to talk to,” said Lyford. “They all seem to enjoy it.”
    Ironically, Lyford was shy when he was younger.
    “I was very bashful, but I guess I’ve come out of my shell,” he laughed. “I remember walking a girl home one night when I was on furlough and she said, ‘You know, us girls say hello to you just to watch you blush.’ I tell that to people now and they don’t believe me; they know me as a talker.”
    Born in Milo, Lyford made a career working on the railroad.
    “I went to Brownville Junction High School and quit my freshman year to go to work. I was involved in signals and communications. I started out digging 5-foot post holes and running wires on the railroad. It was the Canadian-Pacific Railroad then,” he said. “It used to run through Brownville Junction. The first hole I dug I went down 6 feet and was still going until somebody told me to stop.
    “I worked for the railroad — both before and after the war — for about five years,” said Lyford. “I worked the old steam engines; we used to run them some in the yard.”
    Lyford served in the U.S. Army as a medic in World War II.
    “If we could have gone through the Suez Canal, I could have said I’ve been completely around the world,” he said. “The war ended over in Europe, and I was a medic there. Then I became a quartermaster and was shipped over to the Pacific. I’ve been in Japan. I got around.”
    Lyford met his late wife, Dorean, while stationed in northern Ireland.
    “I asked her to marry me in a letter,” said Lyford. “I never wrote to her but maybe two letters before that when I first left. Six years later we got married. We had 38 years together. She passed in 1989.”
    The Lyfords had two children — Mary and Jimmy, both of whom live in Aroostook County. Lyford said he enjoys spending time with his five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
    Following the war, Lyford went back to work for the railroad.
    “I worked for the Canadian-Pacific Railroad for a couple of winters, but mostly I worked for the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. I’ve walked every step — including the sidetracks — of the B&A from Searsport to St. Francis,” he said. “It took a few years doing it. I used to lay out pole work. It was a good job.”
    Tired of traveling nights, Lyford accepted a job in Aroostook County in 1947.
    “The job was working on the crossing signals,” he said. “I worked on the railroad all my life. We kept busy. That’s why I liked it so much.”
    When he’s not volunteering, Lyford enjoys reading and walking.
    “Walking is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “It’s relaxing. I’ve probably walked around this world a couple times.
    “I’ll read anything that’s interesting. If it isn’t interesting and I can’t get into it, I move onto something else,” said Lyford. “If I couldn’t read or walk, I don’t want to be here. I just don’t like sitting. That’s one thing I like about being at the hospital; I get a lot of exercise there.”
    Lyford said he will keep volunteering as long as he’s able.
    “I enjoy coming here every day,” he said. “The people are nice and it gives me a purpose. I’ll keep doing it until I can’t do it anymore.”