General maintenance worker brings dedication and happiness to his job
John Christian, 60, has received the Inver Hills Community College Staff of the Year Award for 2024–2025. John is a general maintenance worker in the Operations department. He started working at Inver Hills in April 2023. His area of custodial responsibility is the entire Fine Arts building.
“When I was told that I was getting nominated, I didn’t think anything of it,” John said. “Then I got a message saying, ‘Guess who is now officially Staff of the Year?!?!?! You!!!’ I took the biggest gulp and didn’t know what to think other than I am truly honored!”
John has 26 years of custodial/maintenance experience. Before arriving at Inver Hills, he worked for nine years with Roseville Area Schools. Before that, he worked for 15 years with Robbinsdale Area Schools. He holds a Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry First-Class Engineer Grade C License, which qualifies him to operate low-pressure boilers.
Originally from Minneapolis, John graduated from North High School, Class of 1983. John’s pastimes are centered on giving back and helping others.
“Growing up, I would help my parents with decoupaging, putting invitations on boards with sixteen coats of varnish,” he recalled. “I guess the favorite pastime I have from my childhood was going to my aunt’s corn stand and taking the station wagon down to the House Of Charity with a car load of corn. In return, they had bins of damaged donuts, cookies, or half-filled, two-liter bottles of soda that we took home. I think that is maybe why I enjoy giving!”
John builds pallet flags to honor lives lost in the line of duty or mass-shooting incidents.
“Back in 2015, an officer was killed by his son, who also killed a brother,” he said, “and I was wondering what I could do. I had some pallets and made a pallet flag for his family and called it ‘Fallen Hero.’ Shortly thereafter, the Charleston Church shooting took the lives of nine congregation members. I called the pallet flag ‘Nine Broken Lives’ and sent it down there.
“I couldn’t stop and made several others, including one for Jayme Closs, who lost both parents to a shooting. I brought the pallet flag over to the police department in Wisconsin, the state where she lived at the time.”
John was never much of a pet lover until his family got Maggie, a yellow Lab who did not like to be kenneled. “We had a 4 x 6 kennel in the basement, and Maggie was able to pull the fence in so she could get out,” John said. “I put the kennel outside, and she burrowed underneath and got out. We finally got a kennel with a door on it, but Maggie was able to chew on it to get out.”
After Maggie sadly passed away, John got a new dog, Cooper, who is 14 years old. John has been married to his wife for 31 years and they have two adult sons. John and his wife reside in New Hope, Minnesota.
John flags and dog gallery
John Christian: Work philosophy
“I enjoy going into a room and straightening it up. It’s more enjoyable doing it again when the class in the morning sees how clean it is. I like to do as much as possible with the time I have!”
John Christian
General Maintenance Worker
Operations Department
Staff of the Year Award 2024–2025
Inver Hills Community College
Janell Hammer: Nominator perspective
“John is a remarkable individual who brings positivity, care, and hard work to everything he does. His presence on campus has a lasting impact on everyone he meets, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the ‘Staff of the Year’ award than him.”
Janell Hammer
Gallery 120 Coordinator
Art Department 2D Art CLA
Inver Hills Community College
(Nominated John for the annual award along with Wendy Olson and Jay Jensen.)
Honorable Mention Staff of the Year Award 2024–2025 Nominees
Allison Anderson, Academic Advisor (Amy Lofquist)
Allison Jenson, Director of Accessibility Resources (Jennifer Parker, Melissa Fletcher, Kimberly Swinney)
Grace Jones, Central Services Administrative Assistant (Erica Kantola)
Jennifer Ball, Allied Health & Nursing Admissions and Advising Specialist (Amy Loftquist)
Maggie Laurel, Learning Technology Support Specialist (Lisa Tracy)
Michele Zywiec, Office & Administrative Specialist (TJ McCann)
Michelle Chmura, Chemistry, Geology, Physics Tutor (Adam Prowatzke)
Nate Eddy, Financial Aid Representative (Anna Voight, Erin Lund, Megan Petersen)
Rachel Marzahn, Interactive Media Coordinator (Maranda Weibel)
Scott Klaehn, Registrar (Wendy Marson)
John Christian • Q & A
What motivated you to choose maintenance and custodial work as your career focus?
I don’t know that it was a motivation, but it was a job I always liked doing. For instance, I liked washing windows on a two-story house with vinegar water and newspaper and the end result leaving my hands black, or cleaning the house while others were sleeping, or my mom asking me to clean a bathroom for an elderly woman.
What do you like best about working at Inver Hills?
My independence!
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
That I take pride in what I do and how I do it while working alongside staff and faculty, who keep me going and throw in a challenge now and then!
Three+ words that describe you as a maintenance professional:
THOROUGH. RESOURCEFUL. LIKES TO STAY BUSY!
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Not being able to get done what we normally do during summer cleaning!
What person has influenced your life the most and why?
Ernie Otto—he was the school custodian when I was growing up. Ernie was down to Earth, easy to talk to, and just fun to be around.
If you could make one thing happen on Earth right now, what would it be?
End all wars!
John Christian • 12 Answers
- Favorite sport or physical activity: Football
Place you would most like to visit: Visiting a brother in Hawaii—never been there!- Most exciting thing you’ve ever done: Helping others—it’s continuous!
- Four things you would do if you won a $1 billion lottery: 1) Something my mom would always do is tithe—all God wants is 10%! 2) Something I have always wanted to do is go to a hospital and find a family that has paid thousands in their child’s bills and give them that money to take a trip and pay the rest of their bill off! 3) Fund a scholarship 4) Me!
- Best book or movie you’ve read or seen lately: Multiplicity
- Time period you would explore if you could time travel: Early 20th century
- One thing you most want to accomplish in life: Never gave it any thought!
Your national bird if you were your own country: Eagle!- Dream occupation: Retirement, volunteering to help storm victims out!
- Person you would most like to meet: The Pope!
- Skill you would most like to learn and master: Woodworking
- Most important issue or problem facing humankind: World peace
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