I first met John when I was a sophomore at Mason City High School and he was the vice-principle. Fortunately, i never did anything to get on his wrong side! During summer of 1970, we were in the same Stat 401 and 402 classes at Iowa State. These were the last courses he needed for his PhD and I was still an undergraduate. On the first day, after class, he invited me to join him and a few of his friends at the student union for coffee. This became a regular occurrence after class. With all of his friends, I was on a first name bases, but he was Mr. Patzwald. One weekend that summer, he brought you boys to Ames for a mini vacation at the Holiday Inn. He invited me to spend one afternoon with you boys at the pool.
He was a special man and I will always remember him.
Thank you so much Michael for that story. I remember how hard he worked to get that PhD, including all the trips to Ames from Mason City. He took us with him when he could and I treasured those mini-vacations.