A 92-yer-old World War II veteran has died two months after singing at his own living wake in Michigan.
Johnny Wearing had been battling liver cancer for years and learned in August that it has worsened – causing doctors to tell him he only had a few weeks to months left to live.
The father and grandfather was first saddened by the news, but then decided to host a goodbye celebration where he could see his friends and family from all over country, for likely one last time, the Detroit Free Press reported.
And of course, his friends, including the children of his fellow World War II bomber crew members, and family showed up in strong numbers in an effort to make the veteran happy.
During the living wake hosted at the Walter F. Bruce VFW Post in St. Clair Shores, Wearing sipped from a glass of white wine while simultaneously saying thank you and farewell to those who mattered the most to him.
‘I am so happy so many folks are here and are having a good time,’ Wearing told the crowd of family and friends, the newspaper reported.
Johnny Wearing, a 92-yer-old World War II veteran (above center in August) has died two months after singing at his own living wake in Michigan
Wearing (above with his son Tom at the living wake) had been battling liver cancer for years and learned in August that it has worsened – causing doctors to tell him he only had a few weeks to months left to live
Wearing decided to host a goodbye celebration or living wake, where he could see his friends and family from all over the country for one last time. He was joined by dozens of his former quartet members and they sung one last song together (above)
‘I love you all. Each of you has touched me in a special way, and I hope in some way I’ve been able to touch you as well.’
The Detroit native was drafted into the Army two months after graduating from high school in 1943.
Wearing served as a tail-gunner on a legendary B17 plane that was nicknamed the ‘Five Grand’, since it was the 5,000th B17 aircraft that was produced by Boeing in Seattle after Pearl Harbor.
The plane was extra special due to the fact that everyone who helped build it, signed their name. There ended up being 35,000 signatures on the Five Grand B17.
In just five months, Wearing went on 35 missions and a quarter of those were on the Five Grand in Germany, France, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, France and Czechoslovakia.
The children of his crew members who attended the living wake traveled from Florida and New Jersey.
Wearing served as a tail-gunner on a legendary B17 plane that was nicknamed the ‘Five Grand’, since it was the 5,000th B17 aircraft that was produced by Boeing in Seattle after Pearl Harbor. Wearing is pictured above in the on the far right bottom row without a hat
Brothers Gary and Peter Weise flew to Detroit from the Sunshine State; their father Harry Weise was a co-pilot in Wearing’s crew.
Susan Brockman Hinchman’s father Roy Brockman was the pilot and she traveled from Cincinnati to be at the special event for Wearing.
‘After the war, everybody dispersed to their hometowns and went back to their lives, got married, had their families, got very involved in their own lives and individual families. But as we, the next generation, moved on, they got back together,’ Brockman Hinchman told the Detroit Free Press while becoming emotional at the party.
Wearing returned back home in December 1944 to start a family with his wife, Margery.
The couple had three sons together while living on the east side of Detroit before they moved to Grand Rapids for a job that Wearing accepted.
The family moved again a few years later to Niles after he accepted another sales gig.
But while living in Niles, the father-of-three began singing with the Barbershop Quartet Society.
In just five months, Wearing went on 35 missions and a quarter of those were on the Five Grand in Germany, France, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, France and Czechoslovakia. He is pictured above second right in the front row
Since then, Wearing had joined more than 40 quartets over the years in the state.
And during his living wake, dozens of his old singing partners were on hand as they helped Wearing deliver one of his last final tunes.
A video of them singing ‘Old Quartet of Mine’ together on YouTube shows Wearing standing in the center of the group and leading the way.
‘He likes being on stage, that was what he was all about, singing, being on stage, that was what he was all about,’ his son Tom told the newspaper at the event.
‘I was always in awe of his energy and positivity. To me that’s what he’s always been.
‘He just worked so hard. He never made a lot of money, but I never wanted for anything. He was able to make a good life for us and ourselves.
During his living wake, Wearing (above center), told his guests: ‘I love you all. Each of you has touched me in a special way, and I hope in some way I’ve been able to touch you as well.’
‘He made a lot of wonderful friends over the years. He lives his life with rare joy, I wish I could be more like him, I tend to be more … realistic. He’s just an amazing fellow.’
The veteran’s other son, Rick, shared on Facebook that his father passed away on Wednesday at 7.30am.
He wrote a heartfelt tribute to his father in a comment on the YouTube video.
‘Today at 7:30am, my Dad, Johnny Ray Wearing had to leave. If he was able he would have sung one more song. But Mom had been crying for him way too long and our Lord listened. It was time my friends.,’ Rick wrote.
‘It’s not going to be easy without him. My reason for wanting to make this note is to thank all of you. Dad saw a lot of horror as a young tailgunner (sic) in his B-17.He would always say that some people thought he was just plain goofy.
‘But in confidence he told me about how on his 3rd mission and not even 18 yet, his comrades from the same Quonset Hut, disintegrated right in his view.
‘When his bombing run was over, he came back, fell to his knees, and kissed the earth below him. Whenever I whined about something he always said, Life (sic) is a gift son, take a look and thank God for your life and that you have an opportunity to live it.
‘Your misery is only optional !!!! Dad’s life centered on making people smile, laugh, and at least grin. Thats (sic) who he was. He was just so damn grateful to be alive, have the woman of his dreams, and 3 other guys to sing with.
‘I hope some of you had the chance to get to know him. He was really special. The reason I wanted to write this is I want to thank all of you.
‘The Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America,kept him alive for 92 years.’