Today's Featured Biography

 
John Chetelat

I am the oldest of 8 children, raised in Middlesex, the row home neighborhood across from Kenwood High. I attended St. Clare School, then in the 9th grade I switched to Stemmers Run Junior High. I was in the automotive program which afforded me a steady job that paid a whopping $2.50 an hour.

In my junior year I began dating a local girl and we were married in December of my senior year. I needed to transition to full time work which led me to earn the English credit I needed to graduate from (this was hard to stomach as a football player from Kenwood) Dundalk Senior High night school. This allowed me to graduate "a-head" of my class. In July of our senior year I became a father of my first daughter, Tiffani.

After nearly three years of marriage we separated and eventually divorced. One year later I began to (learn how to) date when I met Paula Drummond (Kenwood class of 1973).
In 1979, after 5 years of dating we married and I have blessed to be called her husband 33 years so far, and raised three wonderful and productive children.

After my home was burglarized in 1975 a friend in a Bass Fishing Club introduced me to the alarm business as he helped me install a system in my home. This began my career which has spanned 36 years so far. We have been privileged to work alongside some of the same associates for over 27 years, so far. We have installed, serviced and monitored systems in 4 states for the 'unknown' and the 'well known', from sheds and garages to banks, and from row homes to multi-million dollar mansions . We have saved lives and property and helped prevent as well as solve crimes and still enjoy the process.

In 1980 after one year of marriage to Paula, I attended a Christian Business Men's Connection (CBMC) luncheon where I was introduced to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Since then I have become a student of the Bible and have had the privilege of teaching other businessmen how to strive to live their lives and manage their businesses by Biblical principles.

Our lives and family have not escaped the tragedies that we all deal with in life.
After our first six successful years in business I had to end our partnership and basically start over.
Paula was diagnosed with colon cancer and after more cells were discovered after the operation, survived six weeks of radiation, and one year of chemo therapy that she was extremely allergic to, all while raising two small children.
Our oldest daughter (from my first marriage) was brutally raped while in college in Florida and in recent years suffered a spinal stroke, from which she is recovering. She is happily married for over 14 years so far.
As tough as these challenges were and are, the end result is a deeper love of God and family as we appreciate the blessings we have.

I attended our 40th reunion and am honored to be part of the class of 1971. The few relationships I have been blessed to maintain with classmates have been rich and meaningful, and as I ponder who we were during those teenage years, I deeply appreciate the teachers who invested in us when we were at our worst in an effort to prepare us for life.

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