John remembers Pete Kostecki’s lime green 1963, 6 cylinder Plymouth with the tiger skin vinyl roof which he got to work on as a student. He said, “Pete wanted to put an 8 cylinder engine in it and his Dad told him not til the 6 cylinder blew. Pete could never get the 6 cylinder to blow. Those 6 cylinders were bullet proof.” Several of the students, against the instruction of their teachers, would go to the interstate and race their cars. One day they were caught and were late for class. Ranken instructor Mr. Turnbull was not happy. The boys use to kid with Mr. Turnbull about Fords, of which Mr. Turnbull was a fan. The boys would say Ford stood for “found on road dead” Mr. Turnbull would counter with “first on race day.” John also remembers the boys all had their draft number written on their lapel, an ominous reminder of the times in which they lived. After graduating John worked as an auto mechanic, then went to work for his father-in-law as a combustion engineer. Later he went back to school at SIUE’s Environmental Resource Training Center, after which he worked for Granite City in wastewater treatment. John is grateful for his Ranken education. He remembers going to the GM school for eight weeks. He said he outshined the students from Bailey Tech because of the training he received at Ranken. John’s wife passed away in 2009 – he remarried in 2011 and moved to Arenzville, IL where they live now.