A snowstorm long ago helped one man build an eight-decade relationship with GTCC

“I love to meet the people, the students and talk with them,” John Gansman says of his work at the GTCC bookstore.

Had it not been for a snowstorm in 1952, Guilford Technical Community College would probably not have one of its most beloved employees: 88-year-old John Gansman.

Gansman was a teenager living with his family in Indianapolis when his father, a traveling salesman of furniture finishes, was stalled by a blizzard in Pulaski, Va.

“My father got caught in a snowstorm in 1952, and it took him 24 hours to get home,” recalled Gansman. “The whole family didn’t know where he was or what was going on. When he finally made it home, he walked in, looked at us, and said, ‘We’re moving South.'"

The company his father worked for had a facility in High Point, and that’s where the Gansman family landed.

Seventy-two years later Gansman and his wife, Roberta, remain High Point residents, both tied inextricably to GTCC. Roberta was a math instructor at the college for 36 years. Then, after retiring from years of work and quickly getting bored with it, John wound up working in the college bookstore.

“I had just left one position I had for several years,” said Gansman. “My wife was working at GTCC, and she said they are always needing somebody at the bookstore, and so that’s what I did.”

That was 15 years ago, and though John’s work schedule isn’t as robust as it once was, he remains a vital member of the bookstore’s team.

“John has a wonderful spirit and takes time to chat with students, faculty, staff, and members of the community,” said Shawn Dee, retail services manager for GTCC. “You can often find him loading the drink coolers or making lists of items to replenish in the Titan Market.

“John always takes time to find out what everyone’s favorite drink or snack is and writes it down. He keeps this list and then uses his retail savvy to make sure we are always in stock. He knows college can be stressful for students and if having someone’s favorite item brightens their day, he knows he has done good work for our students.”

John and Roberta both graduated from what is now High Point University, and he took a position with a retail chain of five-and-dime stores. He entered a management program with the company and his career took off, both literally and figuratively. The family first moved with the company to Goldsboro, N.C., then Augusta, Ga., followed by Atlanta, Anderson, S.C., and finally, Greenville, S.C.

Roberta took advantage of their time in Greenville to earn a degree in mathematics from Clemson University to go along with her English degree from High Point College.

“I married a Southern belle,” beamed Gansman. “A really smart Southern belle.”

The next time the company asked him to move, he declined, and he and Roberta came home to High Point.

“They wanted me to move again. We had had enough moving and decided to come back to High Point,” said Gansman. “I had a friend who had a business, and I went to work for him selling merchandise to country stores. That was really interesting. There was always a lot of fun and a lot of good people.”

That retirement led to John’s present employment at the GTCC bookstore, but that was not his first tie to the college property.

The Guilford County Tuberculosis Sanatorium opened on the college property in 1921 and remained in operation until 1955. A high school buddy of Gansman lived on the property, and as a teenager, he would visit, a relationship that continued through college.

“I’ve been associated with that property a long time,” Gansman said. “I used to swim in the lake there and fish in the lake there in high school. I used to take my fraternity brothers squirrel hunting out there.”

Those were fun times for Gansman, and seven decades later, he is still having fun there.

“I love to meet the people, the students, and talk with them,” Gansman says of his bookstore work.  “I have a great boss in Shawn, who has been very good to me. Everyone is so easy to get along with. It’s a great job.”