At 70 years old, Jay Schofield will still be the first one in the room to tell a joke or let out a hearty laugh at someone else’s. And when he shakes your hand and tells you, genuinely, that it’s a pleasure to meet you, you might notice his white “Pay It Forward” bracelet.

Paying it forward has been a career for Mr. Schofield — one that’s taken many forms. He’s been “Coach Scho” to many regional high school alumni. He coached basketball there for 19 years and introduced boys’ and girls’ soccer to the school in the 1970s and 80s, coaching those teams for 10 years. But he doesn’t measure his success in statistics. He only wants to know, “How many boys became men?”

Mr. Schofield was also a physical education teacher, interacting with students during a pivotal time in their lives. And the students made it a pivotal time for Mr. Schofield, too.

“My students were always my best teachers,” he said. Years in the gym and on the court amounted to a career of fulfillment. “I was born to teach.”

Even his hobbies are in service of others. Mr. Schofield taught himself the art of metal detecting, and frequently finds rings, keys and the occasional set of false teeth in the sand. When he finds personal items, he doubles as a detective to track down the long-lost owners and return their belongings. The price is simple.

“I just ask them to pass it on — do something nice for a stranger.”

Mr. Schofield is also a tour guide for the African American Heritage Trail. He says it’s simply another way to help out and tell some history stories.

And for the past two decades, Mr. Schofield has found yet another way to teach and serve others. He’s a memoir writer.

“Everybody makes a contribution to history,” he said, “And should have their story written down and preserved.”

In our technology-crazed age, too often the delete key is used instead of the save icon.

“We need letters,” he said. “We need to put things on paper and not hit delete.”

When there are letters, there are incredible stories that can withstand the test of time, and, as Mr. Schofield says, “bring history to life.” And that’s exactly how Mr. Schofield wrote his most recent book, Our Final Salute; WWII Letters From Immigrant Brothers, Volume 1.

Mr. Schofield describes the inception of the book in its introduction; his Aunt Ruth handed him a box of letters that his father and uncles had written home to their parents while at war in the early 1940s.

“It was a cascade of emotions,” said Mr. Schofield. “I was touching history, blood history.” And as he read through that history, he saw first-hand the ties that bound his father’s family. “They wrote home and convinced their parents that they were good soldiers. They said, you raised us right.”

The letters also connect one family’s story to a larger one, at least in part. World War II is a popular topic in the history field, and voices from those involved add another dimension to understanding the colossal event.

“We have so much to be thankful for,” said Mr. Schofield. “We’re lucky to be Americans.”

Words like lucky and blessed often pop up in Mr. Schofield’s vocabulary, but the word coincidence does not.

“I threw that one out,” he says. Tears well up in his eyes when he thinks about the moments in his own life that could be considered coincidences in the eyes of someone else. There was a lot of hard work involved, even if it all felt like flying.

Mr. Schofield has published books on coaching, metal detecting and, of course, memoirs. Currently, he is working on a book that will span the scope of American history from the Revolution to the Iraq War, through private anecdotes.

And he’s enjoying life on Martha’s Vineyard with his wife, Pat, and their children and grandchildren, who live nearby. Mr. and Mrs. Schofield were each other’s first date. They were married on July 10, 1966 and moved to the Vineyard two years later “on a whim.” He had played basketball on the Island as a sophomore in high school, and wanted eventually to come back. Once he returned, he never left.

On his 47th wedding anniversary, this upcoming Tuesday, Mr. Schofield will again spare some time for the community. He will be at the Vineyard Haven Library at 7 p.m. to talk about Our Final Salute.

After that, it’s back to researching and writing, digging up the past in paper and in the sand, and spending the summer with his family. He’s also considering a memoir about himself to be called “Hey Jay, What’s the Story?”

Mr. Schofield laughed as he revealed the name of his work in progress, and sighed at his own silliness.

But an aspiring journalist and the accomplished author agreed — service and silliness at seventy is a great way to live.