John was born in Sidney Nebraska and was raised in Bakersfield Ca. He graduated from South High School in 1965 where he was a standout in football, baseball and wrestling. Upon graduation, John moved to Herlong Ca where he met the former Peggy Baker and they married in April of 1967. In July, John was drafted into the army and soon deployed to Viet Nam where he served our country with distinction for an entire year. While in Boot Camp, John’s son, Michael-John was born.
He returned home, remained in the military, and received an Honorable Discharge seven months later.
After receiving his discharge, John and Peggy gave birth to their second child Lisa and later to their second daughter, Paulette. John enrolled in Lassen College where he was an All-Conference wrestler and received an AA degree. He worked a string of temporary jobs to provide for his family. In 1973, he received permanent employment with the utility district in Susanville where he remained for 43 years.
John has worked as a volunteer assistant coach for five different head coaches at Lassen College over the course of 40 years. Those coaches were Steve Green, Steve Abney, Glen Yonan, Carl Johnson and current Head Coach Frank Avilla. His teams won 11 Golden Valley Conference Championships, appeared in the post-season 20 times, and went to two Final Fours. John’s duties included teaching outfield and positioning players during the game along with coaching first base. His main duty was overseeing the emotional and mental maturing of Lassen baseball players. John has had a positive, lasting impact on the lives of over 1500 student-athletes. His name to all our alumni is synonymous with “The man that makes boys into men”. He did it through love, sometimes very tough love, and did it for his love of the game.
It was John’ honor to work with these young men, “his boys as he calls them”, and each and everyone one of those boys respect John and still remember him as much as any part of the Lassen tradition, if not more.