We all owe John Ahearn a debt of gratitude. Not just for his sacrifice in World War II, which was considerable. Ahearn, who died last week at 89 in Phoenix, helped put safeguards in place to protect Arizona consumers. He left behind a unique resume. He was instrumental in founding the state Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO) and later chaired its advisory board. This was after a brief stint on the Arizona Corporation Commission. He was active in the field of utility regulation when the Palo Verde nuclear plant was under construction and general inflation was eating up paychecks like fire eats up dry brush. He was a fierce critic of what he saw as Palo Verde construction problems and cost overruns. But he engendered great loyalty from people all over the political spectrum. A true blue Democrat with Irish Catholic stripes, he had much support in the conservative Republican stronghold of Sun City, the retirement enclave outside Phoenix. In that way, he helped later campaigns of Democrats Marcia Weeks and Renz Jennings, who held the majority position on the commission for a decade. Jennings called his friend "witty, jovial, passionate and fearless" and said he combined "firebrand eloquence with twinkly-eyed merriment." Bad luck or bad policy in the early '80s helped taint Republicans as saps for utility rate increases. Ahearn was appointed to the Corporation Commission by Gov. Bruce Babbitt in 1979 after the death of Stan Akers. But Ahearn was defeated in a run for the post in 1980. Later, he was named by Babbitt to head the Residential Utility Consumer Board to advise RUCO. Had Ahearn done nothing else in his career, we would have a lot to thank him for. Customer-funded RUCO stands as an advocate for consumers. This concept was startling to some utilities two decades ago when rate increases were often accomplished quietly in small rooms inhabited by suited gentlemen. You could have called Ahearn brash. He would not have cared. As his son Stephen Ahearn told me Monday, his father possessed "a healthy dose of outrage." Ahearn was in it to help the little guy. That was also true when he worked with veterans after the war and when he served on the state Industrial Commission. He also had unsuccessful runs for Congress and Arizona attorney general. Despite those setbacks, he leaves a legacy of public service and true passion for protecting individuals. Part of that legacy resides in his son Stephen who now serves as RUCO director. Stephen said the passion for public service was ignited in his dad by President John F. Kennedy. When JFK called on Americans to ask what they could do for their country, John Ahearn was a newly minted attorney. He graduated from the UA College of Law. Ahearn had done his undergraduate work at Arizona State University. He was born in Brooklyn in 1914 and joined the Army just before Pearl Harbor. He earned command of a company in the 70th Tank Battalion, which took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. His tank unit was among the first to land on Utah Beach on D-Day in 1944. After moving inland, his tank was disabled by a mine. Attempting to rescue two wounded American paratroopers, he lost most of one leg and another foot to a mine. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. He always downplayed his wartime heroism and cited instead the heroism of his own father, a letter carrier with emphysema who raised three sons while their mother was away from the home with an illness. Now John Ahearn has passed on, one of the estimated 1,000 World War II veterans who leave us every day now. When we contemplate such people, we have much to be grateful for and much to live up to.