St. Jo Mo (St. Joseph, Missouri) was founded on the Missouri River as a trading post, a place where French and Indians and all manner of folk heading east or west stopped to do business.  In fact, it was the birthplace of the Pony Express.  It would seem that John R. Kretzschmer, born in St. Joseph in 1933 carried the lessons of St. Jo Mo off into life with him.  He became a trader, or salesman as we like to call them in contemporary times, and to hear it, one of the best the plastics industry has ever seen.

            John was the oldest of six boys in his family, he himself born in the middle of the Great Depression to a family that was never to enjoy the prosperity of St. Joseph.  His father, a man of strict morals and determined to be a Lutheran Minister instead became inflicted with nervous disorders, a situation that made life more difficult for the boys,

            Nevertheless, John thrived as a young man, achieving high marks and graduating sixth in his class from St. Joseph's Lafayette High School in 1951.  Known as the "Fighting Irish," John was active in sports in high school as well playing football, baseball, basketball and track.  "Unfortunately," he notes on reflecting upon his high school days, "they didn't have a golf team then."

            The next step in his life was a difficult one.  "For the first time in my life my father and I had an argument and it was a tough one.  He wanted me to stay home and help out in supporting the family, but I thought I would be able to accomplish that better by going to college.  Everybody said back then that it was important to get a college degree."

            John would not be deterred, despite his father's disapproval.  He had been accepted at the University of Missouri, saved the first $250 he needed to begin classes there and took a bus to Columbia, Missouri.  He immediately took a job in a cafeteria and a gas station with the idea that no matter how poor you are, if you have a job serving food, you will never starve to death. 

            John majored in Chemical Engineering, a curriculum well suited to his aptitude for mathematics and he also joined ROTC, which helped him with his tuition.  "I graduated from the University of Missouri in 1956 and turned down several jobs, even one at Dow Chemical, and went to work for a relatively newly formed company called Spencer Chemical Co.  The company had just purchased a technology license from ICI in London for producing low density polyethylene (LDPE) and a plant to produce LDPE had been constructed at Orange, Texas. 

            That's where John was sent for sales training and to learn every aspect about the company's low density polyethylene products.  He spent six weeks there learning how to market and sell LDPE for blown film and injection molding applications.  Following sales training, John was sent to New York City and worked in the company's district office.  This was the first time John had traveled east of the Mississippi River. 

            But there were other firsts coming up for John.  While at the University of Missouri he met Suzanne, an interior design major and his wife to be.  Continuing a relationship while he was in Texas was difficult enough, but now in New York City, some accommodation would have to be made.  John and Suzanne were married in 1956 in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio.  Following their marriage, they moved to Yonkers, New York, just outside of New York City and where John continued his training in sales.

            There were other considerations as well.  Having gotten through school on ROTC, he owed the Air Force three years of active duty.  He and Suzanne decided this would be the best time to fulfill that obligation, so John left Spencer Chemical and entered the Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in San Antonio, Texas where he attended flight school.  John was a natural, he loved flying, and with his math skills, he especially loved navigation.  So that was his next stop, Houston, Texas, where he attended navigation school and got his wings.  Suzanne was in tow the whole time and then followed him to his first permanent duty station at Larson Air Force Base at Moses Lake, Washington.  "I was assigned to the 84th Troop Carrier Wing and began flying the C-124, a predecessor of the C-5 Transport.  At Larson A.F.Base I was promoted to First Lieutenant and navigator on "Old Shakey," as the transport was nicknamed, on missions throughout the Pacific and Alaska.  It was during this time that Suzanne and I had our first son Brian.

            Prior to his discharge in 1960, John was promoted once more to Captain, but with his three-year obligation paid, he resigned his commission and returned to Spencer Chemical Co. in Kansas City, Missouri, where his daughter Leigh was born.  Here, things were booming as plastics were becoming more and more popular and there was high demand for LDPE.  Spencer assigned John the Pittsburgh territory, which included Western Pennsylvania, one-half of Ohio, West Virginia and some of New York State.  The territory, in fact, was a hot bed of plastics growth and John had fallen right into the middle of it. 

            "Suzanne and I bought our first house near the Pittsburgh airport.  I remember we paid $16,800 for the house, which seemed like a lot of money at the time.  I had to work very hard also because I was competing with resin companies that were far bigger than Spencer like DuPont, Union Carbide and USI.

            "In 1963 I was approached by Rexhall Drug and Chemical and enticed to takeover their Chicago territory selling polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene.  So Suzanne and I packed-up again, this time headed for Wheaton, Illinois, where I went to work for Rexhall, which in 1965 became Rexene Corporation.  We had a tubular reactor that was really good for making packaging grade films and we had a lot of success selling these resins. 

            "In 1966 I was promoted to District Sales Manager for Rexene Midwest sales territory and a couple of years later I was named National Sales Manager and we moved once again to corporate headquarters in Paramus, New Jersey.  There I was responsible for five district offices and I was traveling all over the country.  We were selling 80 percent of our LDPE resins to film extruders and I began thinking that this would be a good business to be in. 

            "After discussing it with Suzanne, we decided to mortgage ourselves to the hilt and made a down payment on an extruder.  I had met Ben Brown of Pexco Packaging Corporation in Toledo and he was interested in going into business with us.  We bought a building in Dunbridge, near Toledo and started Blako Industries with two extruders and operating on a shoestring.  But, I had learned a lot in calling on a lot of converters over the years and I had some of my own ideas, some of which panned out and helped with our success.  For instance, we were the first custom film extruder to recognize the need for "cast-like" gauge control in a monolayer blown film line.  We became the first to use a Windmoeller & Hoelscher Optifil P automatic gauge-reining system that was recognized in the industry as a major innovation.  In its January 1994 issue, Plastics World magazine recognized Blako as an innovator in the specialty, short run film business."

            In 1996 John sold Blako to a group of employees and retired from the company, although he remained on the board of directors.  At the same time, he started S&K Sales Consultants (the "S" for his lifelong companion Suzanne), and began a consulting business where he still advises clients in matters related to sales and blown film.

            John's career as a businessman with Rexene, and later with Blako, was paralleled by an unselfish dedication of time and energy to professional, trade and civic organizations.  In fact, without his impeccable skills at organization, John could never had been as active and as involved in so many organizations. 

            John first joined the Chicago Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) in 1966 while he was working for Rexene.  And when he moved to Toledo he joined the local SPE Section there and took an active role in boosting its membership and stature.  In 1974, John was elected President of the Toledo Section and received special recognition from the National Society for his efforts in guiding the Section's growth. 

            While working at Blako Industries, John led the industry to establish the Ohio Plastics Summit Conference, one of the first state-wide efforts to organize plastics processors.  He served as the organization's first Program Chairman of its initial meeting in 1994 and was active on the Conference Steering Committee until 2004.  The Ohio Plastics Summit Conference continues to hold biennial conferences.

            John's interest and dedication were almost immediately recognized and he was elected to the National Council, then the International Executive Committee and in 1986 he was elected International President of SPE.  He served as Chairman of the Public Interest Committee of SPE where he began life-long efforts to educate the public on the benefits of plastics.  During his tenure as Chairman, the committee produced a film entitled "Plastics, the World of Imagination," which was used throughout the country to familiarize students, civic leaders and the media with the new benefits plastics offered our modern society.  The film won numerous awards and represented the U.S. in an international competition for educational motion pictures. 

            During his tenure as President of SPE, John became a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame Coordinating Committee, later re-named the Plastics Academy Coordinating Committee, and worked with fellow Hall of Fame committee members Fred Schwab, Islyn Thomas, Jerry Heckman, Frank Marra, Jack Keville and Bill Cruse.  He served there as Secretary/Treasurer, President and then Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Plastics Academy.  As the Academy's representative, John became a member of  the Board of Trustees of t he National Plastics Center and has continued to work for the organization in various positions to advance the Center toward its objectives. 

            John has also served on the Past Presidents' Advisory Board and with the SPE Foundation Board.  In 1987 he received the SPE's "Distinguished Achievement Award, and a year later he was named a "Distinguished Member" of the organization. 

            In that same year, John was invited to attend a meeting of the Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA) and in 1987 became a member with the distinguished Dr. Fred Schwab as his sponsor.  He went on to serve on the Pioneer's Board of Governors from 1993 to 2001 when he became President of the organization.  In 2004 John was recognized by the organization and named to receive the "Member of the Year Award."

            John and Dr. Islyn Thomas are the only two individuals to have held the offices of President of the Society of Plastics Engineers, President of the Plastics Pioneers Association, and Chairman of the Plastics Academy.  This became the basis for John's recommendation for his nomination and subsequent induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame.  At the time, only 136 individuals had been elected to the Plastics Hall of Fame.

            John has been recognized outside of the plastics industry as well for his leadership and dedication.  His alma mater, the University of Missouri presented him with its Gold Medal and Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering in 1988.  He has also been active in his local church, St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he has served as president of St. Mark's council and he has been recognized for his work on the Ohio Synod's Congregational Stewardship Task Force, and on the Board of Directors of Lutheran Social Services of Northwest Ohio where he strove to aid the handicapped, widows, and providing counseling on adoptions and divorces. 

            John was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bowling Green Rotary Club where he also served as its President.  As the great trader, he was, of course, a member of the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce and he served as President of their Manufacturers' Council. 

            John has had a distinguished career in the plastics industry and in serving his community as well.  But if there is one thing that distinguishes the master salesman from all of us, is his golf attire.  He takes golf as seriously as he has taken every job, every assignment and every endeavor in his life.  In 1980, he joined the Advisory Board of the Toledo District Golf Association and later became a member of its Board of Governors and in 1985 was elected President and became a Trustee.  He has organized tournaments and served as Tournament Chairman.  In 1991, he was awarded the Burt Silverman Award for Community Service through Golf.  John has been a member of the United States Golf Association since 1982 and still serves on their Sectional Affairs Committee. 

            John's interest in golf hasn't been limited to the Toledo area.  He has served as a Director of the Western Golf Association since 1982 and has served as chairman of the organization's Western Junior Tournament for the last 20 years.  In 2000 he played in the WGA Pro Am, joining a foursome that included professional golfer Tiger Woods.  John has also served as President (2000-2001) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2002-2003) of the Evans Scholars Foundation, a scholarship program for golf caddies that is recognized as the largest privately funded program in the world.  The foundation provides over $8 million annually for scholarships for over 200 young people to receive a college education.  Since 1930, when the Scholars Foundation was established, it has provided college education scholarships to 8,394 deserving caddies.  The Foundation is recognized as the most successful privately funded scholarship program connected with any sport activity.