John James Jagiella, or Jan Jagiełłowicz (a common name in the family), was the oldest son of Wacław Jagiełłowicz and Anna Jagiełłowiczowna (Noviskaite), who in the United States eventually came to be known as Walter and Anna Jagiella. John was born on May 1, 1926. On his birth certificate, his parents listed his name as John Jagiellowicz.
John had two brothers, Francis (Frank) and Wacław Jr. Wacław was considerably younger, but John and Frank were very close. John told many stories of the exploits of the Jagiella boys, both in Chicago and in Marion, Indiana, where they spent much time with their grandparents. Due to an abundance of Johns among family and friends, the family referred to him by his middle name, usually calling him Jimmy. This caused much confusion in later years, when his wife and children knew him as John, but, to all his nephews and nieces, he was Uncle Jim. In the 1930 census, his parents called him James.
Wacław was concerned that his sons would get involved with girls too young, so he sent them to Tilden High School near the family’s home at 47th & Rockwell. The High School that they normally would have attended had girls, so Wacław instead sent them to Tilden.
Americans may assume that rough high schools are a fairly modern phenomenon. However, John’s stories made it clear that schools like Tilden were pretty rough in the late 1930s. A favorite story is when John and Frank volunteered to be hall monitors. While John and Frank were notorious truants, they also relished the role of enforcer. So, when John and Frank became the hall monitors, it became clear that there would be no more truancy at Tilden High School. As John related the story, they would patrol and block the doors if someone tried to leave without authorization. On one occasion, a fairly large young man attempted to leave the school without a pass. Realizing that John and Frank would not let him pass, he retreated to gain a running start. As he neared them, John went low and Frank went high, driving the would-be truant to the floor an pummeling him soundly. John told this story in his 70s, and still had bitterness in his voice, when he explained that they were called to the office and told that they would no longer be hall monitors. John said something to the effect of We were the only hall monitors who ever took the job seriously, so they wouldn’t let us do it anymore!
At some point, a teacher who cared reviewed some attendance records, and noticed that John and Frank Jagiella seemed to miss school on the same day fairly often, so the teacher took the time to call Wacław and Anna at home. That was the end of John and Frank’s hijinks. Wacław sent them both to Roosevelt Military Academy.
John turned 18 in 1944, and served in the United States Army Air Corps. John was a self-described gold brick. He didn’t recognize the significance at the time, but he did very well on the military’s aptitude test, and went into training as a B19 mechanic, a fairly prestigious technical rate. However, he was young and foolish, and the significance of that opportunity was lost on him at the time. He explained that one day he noticed a group of guys who always seemed to be relaxing. He inquired, and learned that the group was a labor pool that consisted of people with light duty restrictions or no technical rate. So, John made it his business to get into the Labor Pool. When World War II ended, John was still stateside, having spent what remained of the war in training or in various support roles.
One thing John definitely learned from his father was the spirit of entrepreneurialism. John worked his way through college via the GI Bill and his small business – wrecking cars. John had many colorful stories of how car wreckers worked with the police at the time. If a car was abandoned, they police would be quick to report it to wreckers, knowing that some sort of gratuity would be returned to them from the wrecker, who would either get an impound fee from the owner or get the car outright if nobody claimed it. One such story was when John’s car broke down, and he got a ride to his wrecking yard. He was very upset when the phone rang and the police had already called him to impound the car. Hey! That’s my car! You leave it alone! He yelled to the police over the phone.
John attended Loras College, Roosevelt College, and finally graduated from Loyola University in Chicago. One notable alum from his graduating class at Loyola is the comedian Bob Newhart. He graduated with a degree in Accounting with a minor in Philosophy. He later explained how he ended up with a degree in Accounting. He explained that he was in the back of a long line at registration. His brother Frank, a popular football player on campus, saw him there. He explained that John didn’t need to wait in the line – and Frank took his brother to the front of the line and introduced him to the young lady recording the class registrations. She asked John for what courses he wanted to register. He replied, I don’t know. Whatcha got? Again helpful, Frank turned to John and said, Sign up for Business. Everybody signs up for Business. And that’s how John became an accountant.
John supported himself and his family with various small businesses over the course of his life. John loved the life of an entrepreneur, and was an avid student of current events, with strong support of any political movement that supported entrepreneurial freedom. He had that in common with his brothers.
There are large Lithuanian communities in Chicago, Illinois, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Mildred Helen Lapinskaite (Lapinskas) of Worcester traveled to Chicago to work as a nurse at the Illinois Research and Educational Hospital. While there, she and John met, and they married at Mildred’s home parish of Our Lady of Vilna in Worcester, Massachusetts, on November 22, 1958. John obtained his first mortgage from Crane Savings and Loan from the old neighborhood, where his father was a Director, buying a home in Marquette Park at 6636 S. Washtenaw in 1958.
Father: Wacław Jagiełłowicz
Mother: Anna Jagiełłowicz