MONROE - Although Jon Rufenacht spent most of his life and career working in the oil business, he eventually went back and followed his heart to do what he loved, a calling that brought both joy and success - for both him and his students.

He was born in Monroe and lived on County N, where his mother's family farmed, while his father was in the service. The family eventually all moved to town and Rufenacht lived near the fairgrounds before relocating to the family home on 8th Street.

At age 5, Rufenacht received a handheld vibrating jig saw and it wasn't long before he was making all of his own toys. It was right after World War II, and he recalls making tanks and guns for himself and his friends to play with in the woods, having fun with "Army" and "chase" around the neighborhood.

His father ran an oil company that Rufenacht's grandfather started in 1917 as an oil distributor in Browntown; the business eventually moved to Monroe and other areas.

Rufenacht started working at the oil company in middle school, washing windows and pumping gas at the stations. On Sundays, the workers would change tires and oil. He said he enjoyed the hands-on job - except changing tires on the manure spreaders.

He admits he wasn't a great student and said he wasn't interested in anything but shop class and getting out with his friends. He had a car accident when he was 16, and it was the end of playing sports for him, so he worked a lot instead. He took one Sunday a month off but otherwise Rufenacht worked every day after school and on the weekends for $1 an hour. Sometimes, he would earn $70 per week in the summertime. He said he was lucky that he never had to pay for gas, tires or oil.

His parents had a cottage on Lake Mendota in Middleton and he enjoyed going there to boat and water ski. Eventually, he even met his wife there. He graduated from Monroe High School in 1961.

After graduation, Rufenacht thought he would become an engineer, but it only took about six weeks at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to realize that wasn't going to happen. It was clear to him that he needed to learn in a more hands-on way.

"My first GPA and blood alcohol content were about the same," he said with a laugh. The second semester, however, he changed his tune and went into the industrial education department at UWP and pursued a teaching degree in tech ed. His shop teacher in high school encouraged him, and Rufenacht spent a lot of time there. He said he loved the hands-on aspect and was happy to turn it into a career.

He married his wife, Carol, in 1962 and she worked at the university while he attended school. He worked odd summer jobs on campus, building garages and farrowing areas for the ag department, among other projects.

He remembers having very little money and eating 33-cent-per-pound hamburgers but still always having the best times. He attended all of the summer schools he could - he remembers taking six credits one summer for $72.50.

"I enjoyed Platteville," he said. "It's a good place to go to school."

He graduated from UWP in 1965 and landed a teaching job in Kenosha making $5,200 a year. He felt he wasn't entirely prepared for the classroom experience and after struggling for about six weeks, he told his class to put their textbooks away. Rufenacht instead taught things visually and used mechanical drawings of the things they were building. He was teaching the way he needed to learn - making everything hands-on. There were times he needed to teach older students how to read a ruler, but he always made sure they were learning.

Rufenacht was known for disciplining his students by making them sand down beautiful wood doors a previous teacher had painted. He saw the pride that brought once they were refinished.

"My philosophy with teaching was to let the kids turn out projects and watch as they took pride in their work," he said. "It wasn't a lot of paperwork."

Although he was enjoying his profession, his brother had passed away and he felt a calling to come back to Monroe to run the family oil business in 1973.

He was back to working alongside his father and also in the office and driving truck. Later, he and Carol bought three oil companies and eventually consolidated them into Dodge Oil Co. Carol did the bookkeeping and he took charge of the additional companies. The oil business was tough; there was an energy crisis at the time, making the profession somewhat nerve-wracking.

"I told my wife that I would not die in the oil business," he said. He sold their gas stations in 1992 when he was 54; in 1997 they sold the bulk delivery business.

To relieve some stress while owning his own business, Rufenacht was asked by a friend to sign up as a security guard to work the University of Wisconsin home football games in Madison. It was a side job he took on for about 25 years, saying the games were a good time and great break from work.

But after the business was sold, Rufenacht decided to go back to teaching. He had kept his hand in it over the years, substitute teaching in the tech ed department and Capstone building program while his son was in high school. He also taught at Blackhawk Technical College adult night classes and had a fun time with adults who truly wanted to be there.

"I really enjoyed that. I told them that we'd take detention down to the Suiss Haus," he said with a laugh.

But Rufenacht was happy to get back into the classroom and took a full-time job at Argyle High School in 1997 and taught for 10 years before he retired in 2007.

"I loved it. It's a great profession working with so many good young people," he said, noting that the first time he taught, he needed the money but later on, he did it because he loved it.

"I miss the kids in teaching, the interaction and seeing them achieve. My goal was to always get them to be proud of what they turned out," he said.

At Argyle, he kept the same teaching philosophy. After owning a business and living life, he realized quickly how naive students were about life after high school. This brought a new teaching strategy, where Rufenacht would have students plan their lives - including their paychecks, deductions, cost of living, and then roll the dice for a life dilemma. Once a week, the class would play the game and talk about things like why 18-year-old students were getting credit card applications. At one point he made them write their own obituary and explain just how they wanted to be remembered.

He said some of the students hated the dose of reality, but they were lessons that weren't soon forgotten. He offered a fresh start every day for every student and loved to start each day with a joke.

When retirement from teaching came, Rufenacht was ready. He and Carol love to travel and at least once a year they take a big trip, visiting places including China, Japan, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Ireland, England and central Europe.

Rufenacht enjoys golf and still has a wood shop outside of town where he spends a lot of time. He just finished helping Monroe High School with its set for the upcoming production of "Guys & Dolls" and has helped with the sets for the past few years. The couple enjoys skiing and went regularly until a few years ago. He enjoys spending time with their two children and two grandchildren as well.

He is a member of the Optimist Club and is proud of how far the group has come with the cheese curd stand and their large donations to the youth here. He has been a member of the Senior Center Board for 23 years and was honored by the Argyle FFA Chapter as an honorary member. He earned the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Monroe Jaycees in 1995, but what he's proudest of are students who have appreciated his classes over the years and thanked him for the skills and life lessons along the way.

He believes in enjoying life and taking it one day at a time.

"If I don't get to it, there's always tomorrow," he said.