John was born and lived in Freeport, Illinois, until the age of five, then moved to Minnesota until the age of twelve. He moved with his family to Montana and moved back to Minnesota at the age of fifteen. That was his last move and still resides here in the state of Minnesota. After high school, he attended three plus years in technical college, studying tool making.
John is our tool maker at Stern Rubber Company, even though almost all of our rubber molds are made by outside tool makers, with three that are located in Staples. John has the skills to create some of our tools, sample tools and maintain our tooling, so that they work to maximum performance. Stern Rubber Company requires in house maintenance of our compression, transfer, and rubber injection tools and rubber extrusion dies. Rubber molding tools and rubber extrusion dies are the life blood of Stern Rubber Company, since our tools are heated to 380ā°Degrees Fahrenheit, with the rubber being pressed into the cavities, overtime these tools show signs of wear and John is tasked with maintaining them.
Before starting with Stern Rubber Company in 2012, he worked twenty-three years as a tool maker for McKechnie Tooling across the street from Stern Rubber Company in Staples. One position he is very proud of is 20-20 Theatrical, installing rigging and electrical wiring for seven years into theaters around the country.
John is married to his wife Anne and they have been married for thirty-four years. Anne was born and raised in Helsinki, Finland and works in Staples at the United Methodist Church. They have three children, the eldest son Michael is married and he too lives in Staples and has two daughters. The middle daughter Laura is getting married in June and live in Los Angeles, CA and she is a fashion designer. Their youngest son Aleksis is getting married in July and lives in Minneapolis, MN, studying to be a psychologist.
John enjoys to riding his motorcycle and rebuilding motorcycles. He works on his own, but enjoys helping out his friends and other bikers in need. John belongs to the Free Masons, is a member of Zuhrah Shrine Temple and Birak Shine Club. He also rides go carts in local parade as a member of the Kar Kor.