Meet Melva Simon, the 105-year-old World War II veteran from Mt. Pleasant

Melva Simon never sat still.

The Mt. Pleasant native served as a Navy secretary during World War II, co-ran an orchard, raised a family, co-taught premarital classes at her church and kept up with a myriad of hobbies.

“Don’t tell her she can’t do something,” Melvajo Bennett, Simon’s daughter, said. “She’s always (said), ‘If somebody else can do something, I can do it. I’ll figure out how to do it.’ ”

On Feb. 17, Simon celebrated her 105th birthday with family, friends and cupcakes at Hempfield Manor, where she resides.

Kristy Mathews, Hempfield Manor’s activity director, said Simon is the nursing home’s oldest resident and only resident over 100 years old.

Simon was born in 1917 in Bridgeport as the seventh of 12 children.

She attended Norvelt’s Hurst High School, which merged into Mt. Pleasant Area Jr. and Sr. High School in 1961.

After graduating, Simon became a secretary for the high school.

Overseas, however, war was brewing.

The United States entered the war in December 1941, and Simon joined the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, or WAVES, less than a year later in October 1942.

“I had a good job with the school, but I felt I would be doing more for my country by being in the service,” Simon told the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 2019.

After completing WAVES training in Oklahoma, Simon was assigned to active duty at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where 53 warships were constructed and 1,218 warships were repaired during World War II.

As a Navy secretary, Simon took dictation from the officer in charge and performed clerical duties, according to the VA.

She also had a Navy driver’s license and “drove the big wigs around in the Jeeps,” Bennett said.

“The big wigs would say, ‘I need to go to that building,’ so she’d have to drive them,” Bennett said. “She’d always say it couldn’t have hurt them to walk a little.”

When Simon was at home on leave, she’d spend time with her future husband, Joe Simon, who also worked at Hurst High School as an agriculture teacher.

The couple married in July 1945. Just a few weeks after their marriage, Simon was honorably discharged from the Navy.

She and Joe began their married life in Mt. Pleasant. They bought about 23 acres of land and opened Simon’s Orchard.

The couple grew sweet corn and planted apple trees. Simon also tended a garden and flower beds.

The Simons had three children. Bennett, the oldest, was named after both of her parents.

The 105-year-old now has eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

As a mother and grandmother, Simon was attentive and involved, Bennett said.

“She was always there for (her children): Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout leader,” she said. “…Whatever sporting event she could get to, she was always there for the (grandchildren).”

Bennett said Simon always kept busy. If she wasn’t working on the orchard, she could be found sewing, crafting, quilting or crocheting.

Crocheting often happened during Pittsburgh Penguins games. As an avid fan, Simon “never” missed a game, Bennett said.

“She always amazed me,” Bennett said. “She would sit and crochet while watching a Penguins game and never miss a play.”

The Penguins honored Simon’s service during a 2019 game. Simon and her family received “all-star treatment” from the team, Bennett said.

The Penguins won that game in a shootout.

“That was a good night,” Bennett said.

The Simons were active members of their church, St. Pius in Mt. Pleasant. The couple also taught pre-marital classes together.

Bennett recalled her parents also loved to travel together. They visited Ireland and Hawaii and took bus tours of the United States.

Joe died 15 years ago. The family’s orchard is being sold, Bennett said.

Simon became a Hempfield Manor resident in July 2021.

Bennett is “pleased” with the nursing home’s “fantastic” care. Simon has dementia, is blind and is hard of hearing.

Bennett visits her mother at least six times a week for lunch. Though Simon now recognizes the nursing home staff members’ voices, Bennett wants her mother to be reassured that “everything is OK.”

Simon “has always been a strong person,” and Bennett tries to emulate that strength for her mother.

“I feel very blessed and lucky to have her all these years and still have her,” Bennett said through tears.

“I’m just trying to give back to her for all she’s given to me.”