John Absher:  

After getting out of high school I worked as a carpenter for Danley garages and several other garage building companies in the Chicago area during which I honed my skills in all phases of carpentry. In the early 80's I spent 18 months in Houston, Tx, freelancing, I returned back to the Oak Lawn area. Then in 1987 did some more freelancing in Houston for about 9 months. Then I decided I should think about settling down and moved back to Oak Lawn. It seemed I couldn't find what I was looking for, so in 1991 I moved to Southern Illinois and ended up working for the first year on a dairy farm, (that sure was a change for this city guy). Anyway in 1993 I found work at a factory that produced those metal storage sheds you might buy from Sears or Lowe's. It was during this time I met Donata Schroeder who became my wife New Years Eve 1993/1994. On June 5, 1995 she gave birth to our son Robert. I stayed at the factory until 1999 when I just couldn't take working in the same place day after day after day. I got back into carpentry, building homes in O'fallon, Ill. In 2000 I joined the Carpenter's Union in St. louis,...Expand for more