John P. Friesen was born in 1912. He was the son of Peter J. Friesen and Anna Heinrichs. He received a few months education in a private classroom and later attended Houston School District No. 214. In 1932, he married Mary Neufeld. In 1933, they inherited eighty acres of land near Letellier, Manitoba. They rented forty acres more and farmed this area for twelve years. In 1945, they bought a farm three miles west of St. Joseph, Manitoba. They were involved in mixed-farming in the early years and slowly went into cattle feed after 1950. By 1977, the area which he farmed had grown to 1200 acres. Friesen's farming records, especially sugar beet farming, led him to be included in a book by American historian Hiram M. Drache on successful farming in the twentieth century. John served on the local sugar beet board for seventeen years and on the Provincial Sugar Beet Board for six years. He was a school trustee from 1945 to 1966. John and Mary had four boys: William, Edwin, Clarence, and Jack. In total, John farmed for forty-five years. He farmed with his son Clarence for sixteen of those years. He retired to Altona, Manitoba, where he died in 1998.