After graduating from Ballard in 1958, John made a brief detour to WSU before transferring to the UW, where he joined three of his classmates in a fraternity. He graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor's degree in Poli. Sci. and History. After college, he served two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, helping poor communities construct schools and water systems. He then joined Peace Corps staff as a Trainer for new Volunteers. His love for and commitment to the Dominican Republic would follow him the rest of his life as would his dedication to international peace and poverty issues.

In 1967, John entered grad school at the U. of New Mexico, where he met and married his wife Jean after they completed their Master's degrees. Seeking a job in poverty programs, John landed in San Francisco with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He held several positions, including head of the division responsible for 40,000 public housing units. Their two daughters, Melinda and Lori were born in the Bay area.

John stayed in contact with his Ballard friends throughout the years (and still gets together with 6 of them for poker). Wanting to return to Seattle, he transferred to the Seattle office of HUD in 1979, heading the Community Development Division until leaving in 1995 to start a consulting firm to assist cities and states to develop effective programs to end homelessness. He served on the Governor's Advisory Council on the Homeless for 10 years. During this period he was honored as the PNW Federal Employee of the Year for his community service.

During the 1980s and 90s, John and his whole family became increasingly active in human issues internationally. John served as President of Ploughshares, a non-profit peace activist group focused on ending the Cold War. In 1987, the year President Reagan called the USSR the "evil empire", the family worked in the Soviet Union on construction of the Seattle-Tashkent Peace Park. Visitors from the USSR have frequented their home, some staying for a year or more.

He has served two stints in the Dominican Republic volunteering to help with recovery after devastating hurricanes. During one of those stints he came up with the idea of creating a fund to assist impoverished communities in the D. R. with materials so they could construct small community development projects. In 2004, he created the Community Challenge Fund, which he and his wife seeded to match donations. In six short years, 44 projects, including aqueducts, schools and health projects have been constructed and a $200,000 sustaining fund has been established to continue funding new projects indefinitely. John manages the Fund, is President of the Friends of the Dominican Republic, has received a $10,000 Leadership Award from the Curry Foundation, was presented with a 2008 Certificate of Appreciation from the Peace Corps Director and is currently a 2011 nominee for the national John F. Kennedy Service Award.