I was born on April 19, 1960 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
My parents were living in St. Jacobs, Ontario at the time with my three older brothers and my older sister. Within 18 months of my birth they moved our family of seven to St. Paul de Joliette, Quebec. We lived there until moving back to St. Jacobs in the summer of 1976.
I attended Joliette (QC) public school for 11 years (grade 1-11) and then completed grade 13 at Elmira (ON) District Secondary School. After starting to work at Home Hardware Stores Limited in St. Jacobs, I completed many IT courses as well as achieving a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. I also completed a certificate program at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary called Journey, along with other non-credit religious courses.
I met Andrea Damaris Feick during a youth broomball game at St. Jacobs (ON) Mennonite Church. We were married on October 10, 1981 and have three children together. We lived in an apartment in Waterloo when we were first married, then bought our first house in Waterloo in 1982 and now live in St. Jacobs since 1984.