John was born in rural Jasper county near Rose Hill, IL. Being the 10th of eleven children, several of his older siblings had already started their own lives and even families. John’s father died when he was eight, but he learned the value of hard work from his mother.

After graduating from Newton High School, and with help of teacher scholarships from the State, John was able to attend Eastern Illinois University and graduated in 1962 with a degree in mathematics. He began teaching at Mattoon High School. While at EIU, he met Joanna (Jo) and they were married in 1964.

As the years progressed, he did graduate work at EIU and Knox College. John became an administrator at Mattoon High School, and then finished up his educational career as principal of Mattoon Junior High.

John has always had at least two jobs. Early on, while teaching, he agreed to be the CEO of a small credit union. Over the years and with the help of his wife, the credit union became larger and by the time they retired from education in 1995, it required full-time effort from both of them. They retired in 2008.

John has enjoyed many hobbies through the years including golf, gardening, traveling, reading historical books, umpiring baseball and football officiating with a competent team. They worked many high school football regular season games as well as three state championships.

John and his wife Jo have two adult children who grew up with them at First Presbyterian. They now have 3 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Having been fortunate enough to have been around a long time, he has helped FPC achieve its ministry and mission.