VISION for Service Reflecting on a


At 77, Landis Place on King resident Bill Cluley isn’t slowing down—he’s simply serving in different places.


A


retired pastor, longtime volunteer, and global humanitarian, Bill has spent decades living out a simple but powerful belief: your usefulness doesn’t expire with age. In fact, some of his most meaningful work began in his sixties. “I used to tell people,” he says with a smile, “you really can


teach old dogs new tricks.”


Bill has been part of World Blindness Outreach for more than 20 years. While the medical team restored sight through cataract and corneal procedures, Bill carved out a role that would quietly double their impact.


On his first trip, he simply observed. He noticed that valuable time was lost as nurses cleaned and sterilized instruments before the next patient could be treated.


So Bill stepped in. He learned every instrument, every sterilization process, and every detail required to reset the operating field. What once took 15–20 minutes was reduced to just 5. Te result? Twice as many patients could receive life-changing care.


As part of more than 28 missions across Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic, Bill became the team’s non-medical coordinator, managing logistics, equipment, and assisting in surgeries. Each trip typically served 100 to 200 patients, many of whom had lived in blindness for years.


“Te next day, you take the patch off,” he says, “and they’re seeing their grandchildren for the first time.” Moments like that don’t fade.


Perhaps one of the most defining moments came during a mission in Ethiopia when the power failed mid-surgery. A backup generator existed, but it was locked away and the key holder was nowhere to be found. Drawing on his experience as a military police officer, Bill picked the lock, entered the building, and connected and started the generator himself.


Te lights came back on. Te surgeries continued.


Bill also connected with a Lutheran church beside the hospital, preaching there on three trips and helping create relationships among volunteers, staff, and church leaders.


Today, he continues that spirit of service at Landis Place on King. Bill helps maintain plants, drives fellow residents to appointments, and stays active in the downtown community alongside Pat, his wife of 53 years.


“Wherever we’ve been in the world,” he says, “people’s goals are the same. To belong. To help. To make a difference.”


12 • Landis.org | FLOURISH | Summer 2026


CULTIVATING MEANINGFUL LIVING


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