{"id":262655,"date":"2026-04-11T13:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/262655\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:18:10","slug":"homeless-at-66-advocate-at-68-meet-san-diegos-piano-man-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/262655\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless at 66. Advocate at 68. Meet San Diego\u2019s piano man. \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Conroy, 68, sits down at the piano bench in the Serving Seniors<\/a> dining room and launches into \u201cMr. Sandman,\u201d then segues immediately into Grieg\u2019s \u201cPiano Concerto in A\u201d followed by Gershwin\u2019s \u201cRhapsody in Blue,\u201d concluding with \u201cEverything\u2019s Coming Up Roses\u201d from the musical Gypsy.\u00a0 It was not a formal performance.\u00a0 It is simply what John Conroy does effortlessly and with passion every day.\u00a0 Being at Serving Seniors, he says, is like a second home. \u201cIt makes you feel like you have a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just over three years ago, Conroy was sleeping outside in Balboa Park with nowhere to go and no idea what came next.\u00a0 Today, he has a place to live, and he has a purpose \u2014 to help other unhoused seniors.\u00a0 He shares his musical gift with hospitals, churches, and the San Diego seniors who have become his family.<\/p>\n

Conroy\u2019s story begins in Japan where he was born and left at a Roman Catholic orphanage.\u00a0 When he was seven months old, he was adopted by an Irish American military family.\u00a0 He grew up in Santee, and at age 11 his grandmother \u2014 a private piano teacher who gave lessons all over San Diego County \u2014 taught him to read music. In high school, he practiced up to 16 hours a day, dreaming of Carnegie Hall.\u00a0 His grandmother\u2019s guiding philosophy stayed with him: have a wide repertoire. \u201cWherever you go in life,\u201d she told him, \u201cit\u2019s important to be open to different types of music.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LunchLunch guests in the dining room at the Serving Senior Center in San Diego enjoy the music performed by John Conroy. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

After a few years washing dishes, Conroy landed a job at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in environmental services when he was 21.\u00a0 He stayed for 34 years \u2014 becoming a union shop steward, an organizer, and the man who played the grand piano in the physical rehab unit on his breaks and after his shift.\u00a0 He left his job at the age of 55 when he says a difficult supervisor and declining health made staying dangerous. \u201cI had to think: what\u2019s more important, my health and living longer, or killing myself in a job that was becoming so stressful?\u201d he said. He lived on his 401(k), moved through a series of shared houses and got by.<\/p>\n

Then, in 2022, the house in Normal Heights where he had lived with roommates for six years was caught up in a probate dispute.\u00a0 Police arrived at the door and informed all the tenants that they had to leave.\u00a0 Conroy found himself loading his belongings into a car with no destination in mind. \u201cNot everyone has family they can go to,\u201d he said simply.\u00a0 He did not.<\/p>\n

He spent five months at Father Joe\u2019s Villages, a shelter he describes as \u201cscary.\u201d\u00a0 He says his items were stolen constantly \u2014 food, clothes, chargers, tablets, even a beanie right off his head as he slept.\u00a0 He was physically threatened.\u00a0 As a gay man, he faced targeted hostility.\u00a0 Eventually, he made the decision to leave, sleeping instead in hidden spots in Balboa Park and spending occasional nights at the apartment of a friend he had helped get housed through another program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to put my life in God\u2019s hands,\u201d he said. He describes leaving the shelter as a walk of faith.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Conroy plays the piano for guests at Serving Seniors. He grew up in Santee, and at age 11, his grandmother taught him to read music. He’s been playing ever since. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

A friend at NAMI<\/a> \u2014 the National Alliance on Mental Illness \u2014 eventually told him about Serving Seniors, the San Diego nonprofit that provides meals, services and housing support for low-income older adults.\u00a0 Conroy got on the waiting list.\u00a0 He waited 5 1\/2 months.\u00a0 On Feb. 13, 2023 \u2014 the day before Valentine\u2019s Day, a date he remembers with precision \u2014 he got into transitional housing downtown.\u00a0 The caseworker guided him through the process.\u00a0 By July 3 of that year, he had moved into a permanent room at the same location, paying $850 a month, utilities included.\u00a0 Conroy lives on Social Security of about $2,600 and says he has learned to budget carefully, eating most of his meals at Serving Seniors or Father Joe\u2019s,<\/a> where he attends therapy sessions regularly.<\/p>\n

Conroy\u2019s days are full.\u00a0 Since 2019, he has volunteered at Sharp Coronado Hospital, playing the lobby piano and performing for patients in the rehabilitation unit.\u00a0 He plays at churches, including a Presbyterian congregation in downtown San Diego, and he launched a YouTube channel, Agent99PianoMan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He also sits on an advisory committee of people with lived homeless experience for the Lucky Duck Foundation<\/a>, a San Diego nonprofit focused on addressing homelessness.\u00a0 He serves as a mentor \u2014 going out into the community, sitting with unhoused people, listening to them, and connecting them to resources. \u201cYou can\u2019t give resources to the homeless until you\u2019ve really gotten to know them personally,\u201d he said. He has helped several women get into an emergency shelter within 72 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What got him through the hard times?\u00a0 He laughs. \u201cMy Irish resilience,\u201d he says \u2014 a nod to his adoptive parents \u2014 \u201cand the piano.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serving Seniors<\/a> provides meals, housing navigation, and wraparound services for low-income older adults in San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m interested in writing a column about seniors who start a business.\u00a0 If you have a story that you\u2019d like to share, please email me at bbry@blackbirdv.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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