Challenge: narcotics charge hits—says “setup”—but the judge doesn’t care. Leavenworth stripes. Ten years gone.
Accountable: didn’t let the bars define him. Studied engineering in the cell. Took the sentence like a lesson.
Assimilated: paroled, $25 a week punching metal in St. Paul. Learned the factory, the city, the rules.
Allegiance: rose to president of Brown & Bigelow. Hired ex-cons—gave back the ladder he never had.
Permanent: Bible opened every morning. Positive mental attitude—daily, non-negotiable.
Prudent: climbed slow. No shortcuts. No ego.
Pragmatic: built a system—second-chance hiring, real jobs, real pay.
Lemons: prison, stigma, no future.
What he made: a company that believes in people.
Read: Napoleon Hill’s Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude—his story’s in there, real as steel.
Grateful Immigrant 