By Frank Lewis
This is a heart-warming story of one man’s journey from being born under German Nazi rule and later moved to America where he thrived. John Kalepp is my brother-in-law, and this is his story based on my own account and my own observations since he married my sister Gail.
John is a product of the Nazi super-race era during WWII when Germany paid each woman who gave birth to a child fathered by a Nazi soldier. His mother gave birth to three children fathered by three different soldiers, none of whom John has ever met.
In 1951, Master Sergeant Fred Kalepp was stationed in Germany, and he decided that he wanted to adopt two German boys and two girls. He got to know his maid’s family and decided to adopt two of John’s younger brothers.
At that time, John was about 11-years-old, and according to John, his mother was cruel and abusive. He tells me that he sometimes slept in the near-by woods to get away from her.
He went to Sgt. Kalepp and asked him to adopt him as well and Fred agreed to do so.
So, John, his two brothers and two new-found sisters came to America to live in McLean, VA where my family lived. John enrolled in Franklin Sherman High School where my sister Gail was attending.
I understand that initially John had difficulty adjusting to his new life due to his broken English language and other problems, but over time he overcame them in spades. Later, in high school John and Gail dated.
After graduating, John joined the Air Force and was stationed in England. John’s step-father had not kept contact with John’s family. All they knew was that they were in Wiesbaden, Germany.
During furlough he went across the Channel, looked up his extended family and friends, and they all assumed a life-long relationship.
After their marriage, they both have often visited John’s family in Germany and several members of family and friends have visited them here, I have met many of them. They all thought the world of both John and Gail.
John and Gail went to college. John, with the help of his GI Bill benefits, went to George Mason University and majored in history. He also played on the university soccer team and made All-State in Virginia for two years.
After graduating, they both taught high school in Virginia, John in the highly regarded Falls Church High School and Gail, physical education in an equally good school in Arlington County.
John ultimately earned a Ph.D. in Education at GMU. By all accounts both were excellent teachers and role models. I recall Gail’s students visiting during summer vacations and weekends.
John became something of a legend. He was highly gregarious, full of exuberance, and a rarity for those days, a male teaching history, especially a macho man.
Before and after their marriage, John became almost another member of our family, and he and I have been close although competitive. He and I played tennis, and he and Gail visited my family often, watched football, celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Kentucky Derby, and partied and fished on Dad’s boat.
Much of this narrative reflects this relationship. Since they were married, the two of them have had an open-door policy to those in trouble. For example, while teaching in school John befriended a young Chinese teacher on an international exchange program, and did much to help him adjust to his new environment. He helped him navigate the federal requirements for a Green Card to stay longer in America and often entertained him and his wife. Years later, John’s friend invited him and Gail to visit him in China and showed them around.
John’s younger brother Jay had many problems with drinking, gambling addiction, and was often in and out of a job. When necessary, he lived with them to get by while unemployed, and they have been a home of refuge for all of his adult life.
As another example of John and Gail’s commitment to help others, they both joined the Peace Corps where they taught soccer in Ecuador. Americans teaching soccer to South Americans?
Apparently, they did well given John’s experience in soccer and Gail’s experience teaching Phys Ed.
After John and Gail retired, they moved to Florida.
When John’s stepmother died none of the other stepchildren had the inclination or means to help. John arranged for Mr. Kalepp to move to Florida just around the corner in their neighborhood so they could care for him in his old age. John expected to inherit the house upon Fred’s death. However, John’s stepfather married his maid not long before he died and she inherited everything. Good money if you can get it. John said, “Oh well. We have good retirement benefits and no real need for the money.”
Now, going back to when John was teaching, another great example of John and Gail’s support of those in need is their support of Willy, a young Latino boy who was a student of John in highschool. The boy was always in trouble in school, at home, and with the law. The boy lived with them for several years until he graduated.
He was difficult to deal with, but John and Gail were patient.
Eventually, Willy graduated from school and moved on but stayed in touch.
After Willy left their home, he was able to go to college, don’t know how, maybe he reconciled with his parents. He graduated and received a PhD from UCLA. Willy invited John and Gail to visit him for his gradation, which they did. He shared with them a paper he had written about his life journey. He singled out John as the one person who had turned his life around. John showed me Willy’s homage to him, and I was awed by the respect and thankfulness he felt.
Willy has gone on to prosper; he married, they both have good careers and Willy became a high school principal.
When I read Willy’s paper I thought then, and still do, “John and Gail are people who are paying back for the help they have received from others in a life fraught with turmoil, problems and challenges.”
Reprinted with permission of “Our Neighborhoods,” Winter 2025-26 edition.