Every now and again you meet a true hero, someone who does good work for the right reasons, a person who shares their talents without holding back, and who does these acts without any sort of praise or accolades.

I think many people today are motivated by the prospect of adding a line to a resume, or completing an application with more accomplishments. There are, however, a few in our midst who do great deeds with no expectation of return.

I have known a very special neighbor for 22 years. Rob has been a member of the community of Sammamish much longer than I. He remembers when Sammamish had no stoplights, no four-lane roads, no library or City Hall.

In fact, Sammamish wasn’t even Sammamish. It was split between Redmond and Issaquah. He had the foresight to purchase a twolot property when his father offered him some money for high school graduation. His father had encouraged him to buy a truck with the money. He refused. His father couldn’t imagine someone would want land over a brand new truck, but that is what Rob did. He later built a home on that land, with his own hands, and improves it every year. He coached his children and others, and simply makes his life a good one.

I think there are a handful of people who might have a similar story, but here is where the biography gets even more interesting to me. Rob worked as a glazier for decades, waking early in the morning, sometimes leaving the house at 4 a.m.

He honed his craft and was a solid worker, always being responsible, and learning tidbits about various people all over the Seattle area. He tells me stories about these experiences once in a while. When you put windows and glass in buildings large and small, you are bound to learn a lot about the people who work and live behind the glass of these dwellings. I suppose some could be snoopy, but Rob just cares. Rob is always there when you need a hand moving items, watching out for neighbors, or borrowing tools you may only use once in a lifetime.

When my autistic son, Gregory, needed a wall of mirrors in the basement that we turned into a therapy room, I asked Rob to install them for us. He ordered the mirrors for me and hung them, much like a dance studio, which covered one wall entirely. Gregory looks at himself in those mirrors every day. I tried to pay Rob, but he refused, saying, “This is for Gregory. I won’t take any pay.”

One of my younger son’s coaches once told me that his father had passed away when he was young. Rob knew this coaches’ father well. When this coach was building a house, Rob came over and put all the windows in. He said, “I am doing this for your dad who would have done this for you if he was here. I am just stepping in as his friend.”

Now that Rob is retired, his children are raised, I asked him what he will do with his time. I see him going out to ride motorcycles with his son, going camping in the new motor home with his wife and playing golf when the weather permits.

But that is not his only plan. When I asked him what he would do with all his newfound time, he said he plans to build houses. I said that was a good way to make some extra money in retirement. He corrected me and said, “No, I will be volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.” I was not surprised, but definitely impressed.

A true hero wouldn’t want this to be published. Sorry, Rob Woodey, you are deserving of this article.

Many of us are building our community with unpublished acts of friendship and help for others. Thank you, Rob, for being a true hero.

Amy McOmber is a 22-year resident of the Sammamish plateau.