John Dirk Roelofs was born in Morden, Manitoba, February 16, 1910. His parents immigrated to Montreal, Canada from the Netherlands in 1906. John had two other brothers and three sisters. When they arrived in Alberta John started working for the Oglivie Flour Mills Company Limited as a grain operator and settled in Monarch, Alberta. He was active and started a number of businesses in the area.
In January 1943 John married a Saskatchewan school teacher Mary Mennen and purchased a North Lethbridge house near his business. A few months later he joined the Royal Canadian Signals Corps. After basic training he was posted to Barriefield, Ontario to await shipping out to go overseas. He finished with the rank of signalman.
John started a family with the arrival of one son Maynard during the war and two additional sons Willard and Morely followed. He retired in 1975. John died in 1984 followed by his wife Mary in 1985.