John grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and joined the Army in 1975. After his first tour of duty at Ft. Benning, Georgia, he was assigned to Germany, where he met Rose. Rose grew up in Norwalk, Ohio, and enlisted in the Army in 1978. After their marriage in 1979, Rose decided not to re-enlist, but rather concentrated on being a full-time wife, and, in the preceding years, a homeschool mother. In 1981, their son, Bob, was born.  
 
John was saved in August of 1982, while they were stationed in Michigan. Rose was saved as a “bus kid” in Ohio. A few months after John was saved, they found themselves assigned once again to Germany in the city of Ansbach. Rose attended the first service of a military church, now called Ansbach Baptist Church, where she became a charter member. Here, Rose re-dedicated her life to the Lord and John was baptized. While members of this military church, they both grew tremendously in the Lord, culminating with John being called to preach in 1985.
 
In 1996, they retired from the Army. John’s military career included three tours of duty in Germany and several in the U.S., along with several hostile deployments, which included the First Persian Gulf War and “humanitarian efforts” in Haiti. One year after retirement, the Lord moved them back to Germany as missionaries. They began their missionary service by attending German language school and assisting two German missionary churches, one located in Ansbach and the other in Nurnberg.
 
In 1999, John was approached by a fellow missionary, who saw the need of starting a church for the military in Hohenfels. After much prayer, the Radank family moved to Hohenfels, and they helped establish the Hohenfels Baptist Church. It held its first service in January 2000 in the Radank’s living room.
 
Two years after its establishment, the Hohenfels Baptist Church became burdened to see churches formed for the German speaking people in their area. Within a short time, the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde Oberpfraundorf (Roughly translated as, Independent Baptist Church in the town of Oberpfraundorf) was started, using the facilities of Hohenfels Baptist Church. The church was first formed under the leadership of missionary Gary Lillard and his wife Frankie. After they were forced to return to the States due to health concerns, God brought missionary Keith Klaus and his wife, Julia, to fill the void. In 2015, this German church was led by God to take the lead in starting the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde Neutraubling, under the leadership of John and Rose’s son Bob (see short bio below). John, Rose, and the military church in Hohenfels also assisted to see this new German church established.
 
In addition to assisting in the formation of these two churches, God has used the Hohenfels Baptist Church to partner financially with several other churches and missionaries, work diligently in distributing Gospel literature for various ministries, promote special meetings, provide manual labor in building renovations, and offer a haven for much needed fellowship.
 
After a year and a half of working in the Hohenfels Baptist Church, their son, Bob, attended the Crown College of the Bible in Powell, Tennessee. While at college, Bob met and married Kelly. After graduation, Bob and Kelly returned to Germany also as missionaries in 2010. Bob is currently the pastor of the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde in Neutraubling, which is located near the historic city of Regensburg, and it is only forty minutes from John and Rose’s home base in Hohenfels. Bob and Kelly have two sons and one daughter – Jackson, Grant and Raegan.  Oma and Opa (German for Grandma and Grandpa) think being grandparents is one of the best jobs in the whole world!!!