After Wright Junior College, John went into the armed forces, was trained in electronics and radios, earned amateur radio operators license K9DJE, and then served his country in the Korean War intercepting and triangulating enemy transmissions. After his honorable discharge, John returned to Chicago and married, and then continued his education at the Illinois Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
His professional work experience primarily included Chicagoland companies that manufactured resistive heating products, where he designed new products and improved existing ones. On behalf of his firms, John solicited changes to the National Electrical Code. He taught himself to program some early business computers, writing software for use by the finance and production staff, and was a lifetime member of the IEEE professional society.
John also pursued business interests outside of large firms, first purchasing and operating a specialty screen-printing business near downtown Chicago. Later he became part-owner and operator of a precision machine shop on Chicago's west side, and finished his career in a small consulting firm southwest of Chicago whose specialty was investigating fires for possible electrical origins.
As the father of six children, to enable all of them to continue past high school and into college required John and his wife to adopt a lifestyle of extreme frugality. He was mechanically adept and frequently began repairs and other home projects himself. John and his wife remained in Chicago until relocating to Auburn, Washington in 2014 to be nearer their grandchildren.
First discovered the previous November, John lost his fight with cancer April 25th, 2017. Ever the practical man, upon his death he donated his body for scientific study and teaching.
John is preceded in death by his son Gregory. Surviving him are his wife of 60 years Diki, his sister Marianne, and his brother David. He leaves behind daughters Paulette and Christine, and sons Lawrence, Charles, and Michael; grandchildren Logan, Cynthia, Alyssa, Stephen, and Thomas; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, the family requests that donations be made in his name to the Cancer Research Institute www.cancerresearch.org, the Prevent Cancer Foundation www.preventcancer.org, the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org, or similar charities.