Meeting a חלוץ khalutz (pioneer)

Last evening, before the beginning of the service, T'khia, the president of the congregation, came up to us and asked us if we could take a man home afterwards who needed a ride, since he lives near Cynthia, whom we were already taking home. Of course we agreed, and she introduced us to him. His name is Meir. We had seen him many times at services, and he usually reads the תפילה לשלום tfilah l'shalom (prayer for peace) which comes after the עמידה amidah (central prayer of the service, during which we stand -- it actually means "standing"). We had not met Meir before, however. It turns out that he doesn't speak English. However, between my Hebrew and Cynthia's and David's Yiddish, we were able to communicate with him. We learned that he made aliyah (moved here) from Germany in 1938! He used to live at Kibbutz Metzuba, where our friend Golan has his snakes. We must be sure to talk to Meir more, since he is a true חלוץ khalutz (pioneer), having immigrated 10 years before the founding of the State and having lived here now for 70 years!