John was born in Galesburg, Illinois on July 2, 1938. He spent his childhood learning how to build radios as a hobby. He also spent his summers at Diamond Lake in Michigan, where he met his future wife, Diane Fitch, at the age of 14. At Mishawaka High School, John participated in track and football, as well as other sports and clubs. He also met Al Kahn, the founder of audio equipment manufacturer, Electro-Voice. This piqued John's interest in electronics as well as his penchant for hard work and dedication.
After graduating from high school in 1956, John attended Indiana University. He received a B.S. in Business at Indiana University in 1960, where he was active in the Lambda chapter of Sigma Chi. He married Diane in South Bend, IN in June of 1961, and the couple moved out to Lakewood, Colorado to make a home together. John and his father had traveled to Colorado on business earlier, and he had fallen in love with the Colorado mountains. John made his start working as an assistant buyer for the Denver Dry Goods Company, and later selling insurance with Prudential, where he was eventually earning 4th in sales in the nation. His true passion, though, was for electronics, radios, and recording, and around 1965 his hobby grew to the point where it became his livelihood.
John did prodigious amounts of reading on the subject of recording and learned many tricks of the trade through recording friends. As his clientele grew, his basement studio grew as well, and in 1984 he and his family took the big jump and decided to build a dedicated recording studio called FTM Studios. John did a great amount of study to understand studio design and designed the building himself. Over the years, many clients came through the doors of FTM Studios, notably Tony Bennett, Kenny Loggins, Vanessa Williams, Phillip Bailey, Kenny Rogers, Debby Boone, The Fray, and Bette Midler. John's love for recording and for his studio was evident with every tour he gave, every session he engineered, and every conversation he held. His natural aptitude and diligent study, together with his years of experience, made him truly outstanding in his field.
In the mid 1990's, John and his son, Steve, began teaching Sound Recording Technology at Colorado Christian University, and then they wrote their own recording curriculum that was used all over the country.
When he wasn't at the studio, John was relishing his beloved Colorado mountains, enjoying four-wheel-driving, camping, hiking, and scenic drives. He also loved spending time growing vegetables in his garden, and watching the sunset from his back porch.
He was preceded in death by his wife Diane on October 14, 1999. He is survived by his sister Kate Gingrass of Nashville, TN, his son Steve Sundberg of Lakewood, CO and his daughter Sharon Markin of Oak Hill, VA. John will be deeply missed by his sister, his children, and his extended studio “family.”
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