After Jimmie Sinatra moved into his house in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood in 1995, he used his snowblower on his driveway and sidewalk after a winter storm rolled in. As a random act of kindness, he did the same for the next-door neighbors on each side of his home.

Then, one day, Jimmie looked up the street and realized that many more houses needed snow removal. Why not go ahead and do it myself? he thought.

He took his snowblower, walked down the street, and cleared snow from 18 more properties.

“What are you doing?” Jimmie’s wife, Barbara, asked when she saw him out in the cold. “I like to help my neighbors, it makes me feel good!” said Jimmie, a cousin of the legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. 

Since then, Jimmie, now 82, has become known as “The Snowman of Woodward Avenue” in his neighborhood. Despite suffering from COPD and emphysema, Jimmie bundles up and heads outside to clear the snow after every Ohio snowfall. He cleans sidewalks outside of 34 homes, walks behind his snowblower and carries a 2-gallon gas can in case he runs out of fuel. 

Barbara, who passed away in 2019, would sit on the porch and watch her beloved husband toil away in the winter wonderland to help others, and shake her head with pride. 

Many grateful neighbors offer Jimmie money, like $10 or $20, but he refuses to take anything. However, he will happily accept gifts of hot meals at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, which come with expressions of gratitude: “Thanks so much for helping me after the winter storms!”

Life

The World’s Oldest Living Man Turns 112: Meet John Alfred Tinniswood

The Guinness World Record holder for World’s Oldest Living Man just turned 112 years old. John Alfred Tinniswood, born August 26, 1912, celebrated his birthday at his care home in Southport, England, with his family and friends, Guinness reported. And yet, the supercentenarian doesn’t seem to be all that impressed by his own title.  What […]

Jimmie’s heartwarming story of community service spread and caught the attention of Wisconsin-based Ariens, an equipment company. Last year, Ariens teamed up with local T&S Power Equipment and gifted Jimmie with a well-deserved, fancy $2,400 limited-edition snowblower. Jimmie was shocked, ecstatic and humbled by the gift.

“He was the right guy to give it to,” says Sam Pulice, an employee with T&S. “If you were going to donate to a good cause, that’s the kind of guy you’d want to give it to.”

Jimmie calls his snow blowing a labor of love, and he is so happy to do it. “I don’t want to sit here and wear away. I like to keep busy,” says Jimmie, who recalls cleaning up after a Valentine’s Day blizzard several years ago that piled up snow above his knees. “You’re only as old as you feel, and I don’t expect anything from anyone. I just do it to help.”