Proud to be from Pittsburgh: 95-year-old volunteer serves ice cream to vets

PITTSBURGH — Wanda Spiering knows how to dish it out, dish out ice cream, that is.

“She's never missed one day. She's served more ice cream than Ben and Jerry's,” said John Ayers of the Southwestern Veterans Center.

Wanda Spiering is 95 years old and has been serving ice cream as a volunteer for 11 years.

“I always say to people, don't make any appointments for me on Thursday, any day but Thursday.   Thursday I come down here,” she told Channel 11’s Peggy Finnegan.

Every Thursday she drives herself to the Southwestern Veterans Center to make ice cream cones for patients and staff.

“As soon as I come in the door they say, oh, the ice cream lady's here,” she said

Spiering’s two husbands were vets. Her first husband died in World War II and her second husband lived at the Southwestern Veterans Center.

Her two sons served in the military as well, so Spiering knows better than most the sacrifice these vets, now aging and ill, made for us.

“This makes me feel good.  Really does. To think of all that these fellas have done for us,” she said

“She's just a giver. She gives back to the community and that's what volunteerism is all about,” said Ayers.

Spiering received a big honor recently when the Veterans Center named her volunteer of the year.

“It's hard to get some of these folks to volunteer for an hour and so young people can take a lesson from someone who has been volunteering for over 50 years,” said Ayers

WPXI