{"id":2544,"date":"2023-12-25T13:41:40","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T13:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2023-12-25T13:41:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T13:41:40","slug":"an-85-year-old-widower-who-works-as-a-janitor-to-support-his-two-adopted-grandsons-receives-75000-after-an-unexpected-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/?p=2544","title":{"rendered":"An 85-year-old widower who works as a janitor to support his two adopted grandsons receives $75,000 after an unexpected encounter."},"content":{"rendered":"

After his beloved wife\u2019s tragic and unexpected demise, an older man was left heartbroken and had to work hard to provide for his special needs adopted grandchildren. One day at work, he ran into an old colleague who was deeply moved by his story and decided to help.<\/p>\n

Wendall and Della Gill, from Lexington, Kentucky, had known each other for a long time and had been together since they were teenagers. As time passed, their love blossomed, and eventually, the couple decided to tie the knot, vowing to stay true to their feelings for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

Through the highs and lows of life, the Gills held hands and weathered all the storms together. One day in late August 2018, Wendall had a day off from work, so he and Della began running errands. Afterward, they made a brief stop at the Lexington, Kentucky McDonald\u2019s, where Wendall was an employee.<\/p>\n

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Losing His Beloved<\/p>\n

The spouses were tired and hungry and wished to grab breakfast together. While their order was being taken care of, Della told her husband she was going to use the washroom, but unfortunately, she never returned. After waiting for her to come back, Wendall became worried and decided to check what was wrong.<\/p>\n

Todd, who had become a financial planner after leaving his McDonald\u2019s job, felt a strong urge to do something for the Gill family.<\/p>\n

Sadly, what he then learned shattered his heart into a million pieces. His beloved wife of 63 years had passed out in the washroom after suffering an aneurysm. Della, 83, was immediately taken to the hospital, where she took her last breath only days later, leaving Wendall forever broken.<\/p>\n

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He Had to Keep Going<\/p>\n

Instead of taking time off work to grieve and honor his late wife\u2019s memory, Wendall continued to show up to his job every day. It was heart-wrenching to see him take out trash and clean the restrooms, considering that he had witnessed his beloved die in one of them.<\/p>\n

Wendall had been employed at the Richmond Road McDonald\u2019s for 44 years and couldn\u2019t afford to leave work. He wasn\u2019t bothered about himself but worried for the two special needs grandkids he and Della adopted years ago. They needed him, and he couldn\u2019t just walk away or turn his back on them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nWendall Gill…..a Long-Time employee at McDonalds on Richmond Road here in Lexington. Today, under the leadership and the heart of Todd Oldfield, friends & family gather to give honor to whom honor is due….
\nPictured above is Wendell and his son-n-law at Southland Christian Church for simply an appreciation lunch…Wendell and his family have experienced mountain tops and valleys and the “little church” behind McDonalds on Richmond Road opened its doors for Todd Oldfield and Wendell and family and friends.
\nWendell has been at that McDonads for 40 plus years….Today we got to see ” a community come together”. All because one man (Todd) took notice of another man (Wendell).<\/p>\n

A Chance Meeting with an Old Friend<\/p>\n

One day at work in September, Wendall ran into an old friend and former McDonald\u2019s employee, Todd Oldfield, who stopped by for a quick meal. The two met decades ago, in June 1978, when Todd got his first job. Regarding their first encounter and how much had changed since then, Todd shared:<\/p>\n

I just thought [Wendall] was a neat, old guy. Now, I\u2019m 10 years older than he was then.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they sat down and chatted, Todd was taken aback when he learned about Wendall\u2019s predicament. The senior citizen told him that his wife of more than six decades had tragically passed away, leaving him and their adopted grandkids alone and crippled.<\/p>\n

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Helping His Lost & Devastated Friend<\/p>\n

In a crowdfunding page created to support Wendall in the winter of his life, Todd wrote, \u201cWendall is devastated; lost; totally empty now. Wendall has to keep working right there in the store, walking past this restroom, cleaning it daily. He has no money. He has to keep going\u2026he has to keep strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendall\u2019s eldest adopted grandson, John Columbia, 33, had autism, while the youngest, Justin Gill, 20, had fetal alcohol syndrome since birth. Todd, who had become a financial planner after leaving his McDonald\u2019s job, felt a strong urge to do something for the Gill family.<\/p>\n

Raising Funds<\/p>\n

What started as a Facebook post and a call for help evolved into an online fundraiser, raising a whopping $75,000 over time\u2014a genuine moment of surprise, joy, and relief for both Todd and Wendall.<\/p>\n

As more donations poured in, Todd helped Wendall pay off his two cars, a van, and home, and buy a nice headstone for Della. \u201cI AM SO HAPPY TO REPORT THAT ONE MAN HAS STEPPED FORWARD TO PAY FOR THIS. We have a headstone marker picked out,\u201d said Todd.<\/p>\n

The GoFundMe account received almost 2,000 donations and reached $115,520 before closing. In a video posted on the fundraising page, Todd expressed that he wished to see Wendall sit in McDonald\u2019s and enjoy his coffee all day rather than working and cleaning up.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Appreciation Party<\/p>\n

To make his dear friend feel special and valued for all the hard work he had put in through the years, Todd decided to do something else. He organized an \u201cAppreciation Party\u201d on October 20, 2018, at a church near the Lexington McDonald\u2019s branch.<\/p>\n

Given his excruciating pain and heart-stopping trauma, Wendall could surely use a few hugs and words of encouragement from friends, family, and strangers. The event was a great success that touched Wendall\u2019s heart and made him feel special and loved.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Todd thanked everyone who showed up and uplifted his friend\u2019s low spirits. \u201cI\u2019d lost a little faith in humanity until this came along,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Please show some love to this older man and his thoughtful friend in the comments section on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After his beloved wife\u2019s tragic and unexpected demise, an older man was left heartbroken and had to work hard to provide for his special needs adopted grandchildren…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2550,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544\/revisions\/2550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtimenew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}