Andy Petro, 86, is stopped by his neighbors half a dozen times a day at his senior living community in Roseville, California. A neighbor cannot undergo his text message. Another cannot switch the brightness, and a girl desires to learn how you can send blissful birthday balloons to her grandchild via the screen.
“It was like I opened a candy store and all the candy was free,” says Petro, who modestly admits to having solved 90% of the Apple problems he encounters.
Most recently, a girl stopped Petro while she was eating dinner because she couldn’t get calls through. Petro was at her door in an hour. “It simply saves them the trip to the Apple Store,” says Petro Assets. “Now she will make phone calls. That is sweet.”
While he’s often known as Andy to his family, to his fellow seniors at Sonrisa Senior Living he’s the clever Mr. Apple.
In addition to patting him on the shoulder and asking for last-minute help, people also block time to hearken to Petro’s technical lectures. As president of the senior center’s Apple Club, a corporation for individuals who need to get essentially the most out of their iPhone’s features, Petro hosts a one-hour community theater class every month with 20 to 25 neighbors ages 75 to 95. He answers questions, explains latest features or updates and offers suggestions for the perfect communication (he probably has the newest versions himself). As a long-time technology skilled and teacher, he loves giving back and helping people gain confidence in latest types of communication as they age.
“Since my brain still works, I put all my knowledge to use and became the Mr. iPhone guy,” he says.
After joining the Marine Corps within the late Nineteen Fifties, Petro was encouraged to review electronics before transferring to a base in Japan. After getting back from service, he secured a job within the aviation industry in Southern California. Over the following few many years, between jobs and startups, he also taught courses in technology and business systems. When the primary Apple device got here onto the market within the Nineteen Seventies, he was probably the most eager customers.
“I fell in love with Apple products when the first one came out,” he said after purchasing the Apple II Plus computer system. He immediately recognized the impact on his son, who struggled with dyslexia and was not performing well in class.
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“A miracle happened,” he says. “He could now type, and he didn’t have the same dyslexia problems when typing that he did when writing with a pencil in his hand.”
Although novel technologies impacted his family, additionally they encouraged him to proceed learning and teaching others throughout his profession. So teaching in his retirement home was not far faraway from his old area of work.
After retiring on the age of 70, Petro and his wife moved into an independent home in a retirement community near their family. There he was introduced to his first Apple Club and was a member of the board for 15 years. When he got older and moved right into a senior living facility, he began his own technology club for the residents.
While a few of what he teaches is comparatively beginner-level, he puts his ego aside and helps his neighbors find the Apple Store or their phone provider’s location when the issue is outside his wheelhouse.
“When people come to my classes, they’re really, really excited about learning something new, and then they feel good about it and feel good about themselves,” he says, reminiscent of taking photos and texting them send to the family. “It’s really something that allows them to communicate a little bit better with their grandchildren and children.”
Andy Petro
Petro emphasizes that individuals underestimate older adults and assume they don’t desire to listen to the newest updates. However, he says many are fascinated with finding ways to streamline communication and benefit from latest features, especially for many who can have Parkinson’s and wish to learn how you can use speech recognition, reminiscent of typing on the screen restrict. “In every new version that comes out, there are really a number of things that are good for someone who is 85 or 90 years old,” says Petro.
It doesn’t hurt that Petro gets to interact with tons of latest faces, as he’ll probably get stopped dozens of times before the following official class.
“When I got here I said, ‘Anyone who’s interested in Apple come and see me,'” he says.
If you might have personal stories about seniors over 80 sharing their life lessons, finding latest hobbies and skills, and empowering aging adults, please contact alexa.mikhail@fortune.com
