BEAVERCREEK — It was against all warnings in the time of the COVID-10 pandemic for 90-year-old John Teevan to leave his Beavercreek home. But he was determined to travel to Community Blood Center Wednesday morning to make his milestone 200th lifetime blood donation.
“I try to follow the rules and the regulations,” Teevan said. “The governor and the president told us to stay in the house.”
So why did he venture out?
“This is 200 times,” Teevan said. “It’s nice, with everything that’s going on, if it all helps out.”
Teevan’s daughter, Lee Teevan, could not talk him out of making a special visit to the Dayton CBC Donor Center for his 200th donation, despite the warnings to stay home.
She relented with the conditions that his appointment must be early in the morning to avoid other donors, and that he wear a protective mask.
“I’m so relieved,” said Lee Teevan, who waited in her car as her father donated. “I couldn’t sleep all night. He was ready to go.”
John Teevan is a regular donor at the Peace Lutheran Church community blood drives. He showed a similar resolve last September when he made his 198th lifetime donation at the Beavercreek Battle of the Badges Blood Drive, hosted by Peace Lutheran. It was just days after losing his wife, Alice. They were married 61 years.
“She was attractive, and her personality was even better,” John Teevan said at the September blood drive. “Tomorrow’s the funeral. She donated 18 gallons of blood. I’m going to pass through this world, and I’m going to do a little bit of good while I pass through.”
As he made his 200th donation Monday at CBC, Teevan recalled that he had worn his “Smokey the Bear” T-shirt at the Battle of the Badges Blood Drive in support of the firefighters. His history as a donor goes back to when he wore a uniform. He proudly wore his veteran’s cap while donating.
“I started donating when I was in the Navy in Tacoma, Washington in 1952,” he said. “I donated one time in Wichita Falls, Texas at Sheppard Air Force Base. I went to school down there and they had a blood drive. I donated in quite a few states.”
Now he’s donating at time different from any other in his 90 years.
“The reason why I donate,” Teevan said, “Some men and women donate millions of dollars. Oprah Winfrey donated $10 million to Hurricane Katrina. I can’t do that. But I can help people in the hospital who are in bad shape and need it for cancer and operations.”
