John was born in Cleveland but has spent most of his life living and raising a family in Michigan. During his career as an architect John worked on many university, commercial and community projects, mostly in the Midwest. He came to understand that successful projects were not just the building designed for a client but the personal relationships between designer, owner and builder that bring a project to fruition.
Since retiring he has devoted much of his time and energy volunteering and supporting the arts, community efforts and various non-profit organizations. He has volunteered at the Ark in Ann Arbor since 2012, and is also involved with Face Addiction Now (FAN), Preservation Detroit and now Lost Voices.