Meet John Marquardt, a low key kind of guy with a big impact here at Chicago Communications. A man with many talents and very few words, John’s stomping ground is a work bench and toolbox at our Chicago Loop location. He is one of our valued technicians who has put in 29 years of hard work and dedication into fixing two way radios and other communication system accessories.
After brewing his normal pot of coffee at 7 a.m. each morning, John makes his way to the back of our downtown office and gets to work on whatever order he has that day. Before his almost 3 decades at ChiComm, John was enlisted in the U.S Navy, where he circumnavigated the world, and served time in Vietnam. His work with SONAR and electronics in the Navy is what gave him the background necessary to be such a successful radio technician (he told me he wasn’t allowed to say what he exactly did with electronics in the Navy).
Once he completed his time in the Navy, John found work with U.S Steel. However, he was then laid off, and through a Motorola Salesman recommendation, John landed his career at Chicago Communications. This is where John’s interest in two way radios grew.
With 29 years of service under his belt, John’s favorite project at ChiComm was in his earlier years. A local cable company (TCI) was looking for a way to locate which power supply source would be the cause of an outage. He stated back then cable receivers were located on numerous telephone poles, and his job was to develop a system that would alert the company on which one was problematic. His system then was reproduced by the company (no longer creating the need for John), but he’s still pretty proud that it was his idea/system that was so vital to their company.
The number one thing John says he will miss most about working at ChiComm upon his
retirement is the enjoyment he has going to work every morning. He said the biggest ingredient to the recipe of loving your job is to enjoy your coworkers. Everyone at ChiComm helped him enjoy his many years with the company.
Co-worker Jimmy Lambrecht pulled me aside after my one-on-one with John, and said that he truly is the linchpin in the service department for ChiComm. “It’s going to be really hard to replace him,” said Lambrecht.
So what’s a guy to do after having a solid work routine for 29 years? John looks to not only retire from ChiComm but radios all together. He’s looking forward to relaxing, playing video games, and spending time with his girlfriend.
