John Joseph Zimmerman was born in York, York, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of March, 1908, to Frannie and Louis Zimmerman. He was the third of nine brothers, and was an enthusiastic basketball player at York collegiate Institute where he played with his brother, Bill. He went on to Thompson Business College, then Duke University, where he pursued a degree in time and motion study engineering, played on the varsity golf team and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Following college he took a job with the Hookless Fastener company (later to be known as Talon Zipper company) in Meadville, Crawford, PA. In Meadville he met and fell in love with Ruth Berdeen Davis and they were married on 31 August, 1936. In late 1939 John took a job with the Murray Corporation of America in Detroit and they found an apartment in the upstairs of a house at 3911 Bedford Rd. He supervised seven floors of aircraft workers making nacelles for the B-17 bomber. During WWII John’s work meant he could not serve in the military, though all seven of his surviving brothers did serve, and they all came home. As Ruth was advised not to have children it was during this time that they adopted a son, which also necessitated moving to a new home which they built on Fairway Drive in Birmingham, Michigan. Against the advice of her doctor Ruth became pregnant and delivered a healthy boy three years later. Soon thereafter the Murray Corp. of America closed its doors and John took a job with Chrysler Corp. in Cleveland, Ohio, commuting weekly from Detroit for the next 18 months. John joined the Society of Automotive Engineers during this period, and moved to work for Lincoln-Mercury in cost estimation engineering. In the mid-sixties he was diagnosed with arteriosclerosis and battled that affliction for years, eventually losing both legs and retiring from work. Ruth and John moved to Tucson, Arizona, staying for a few years, but decided it was too hot, and moved on to Long Beach, California. John drove with hand controls and he and Ruth traveled extensively until 1984 John died of Congestive heart failure after a three-day illness. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word.