Mr Janetzki said building was in his genes and when he finished at Horsham Technical School in year 10, he set out to find work.

“My grandfather was a builder and I remember talking to him when I was about five or six years old and he told me to be a builder,” he said.

“I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“The family on my mother’s side were also in the building games, so you could say it was in my genes.”

Mr Janetzki said when he finished school in 1968, he rode his bike around Horsham, asking builders if they would employ him.

He soon started an apprentice with Jack Darnell, where he worked for four years. 

“I did most of the not-so-nice work but that’s made me who am I today,” he said.

“I did enjoy the smokos that Jean Darnell made for me though – I was well looked after.”

Mr Darnell died in 1971 and Mr Janetzki approached another builder, Glen Foster, to see if he could work for a year to finish his apprenticeship.

“The only problem was that there was two other Garys employed there, so I got the name Jack and it stuck.”

“While there, I did domestic, commercial, and industrial work, including building doctors’ homes, the Horsham Rural City Council depot, and the art gallery.

“But building my own home was the best challenge ever and it’s where we still live today.”

Mr Janetzki said in 1980, he became a partner in the company.

He continued working there until 2000.

“It’s great, considering I only went there for 12 months,” he said.

Mr Janetzki then branched out on his own, forming Jack and Jan Builders, with his wife.

“I mostly did renovation work because I was on my own,” he said.

“We got on alright but it was difficult to work by yourself and when you own your own business, if you aren’t working, there is no money coming in.

“We had fun though and I always loved the trade.”

Mr Janetzki officially retired last year, but is now keen to pass on his skills to the next generation of builders.

“I did a few years teaching VET and VCAL students and I’m now teaching woodwork at Holy Trinity Lutheran College,” he said.

“The building game has changed so much though since I started.

“Back in the day, everything had to be put together but now nearly everything is pre-fabricated.

“We used to have to make everything ourselves by hand, it was just the way it was.

“Today, you just have to wait for the truck to turn up and put everything together – it’s a lot easier.”

Mr Janetzki said he now did work at the Tandara Lutheran Camp in Halls Gap and Angelsea.

He is also heavily involved in the Horsham Arts Council, building sets for productions.

“I enjoy being involved in the productions – it takes about three to four months to get all the sets ready for a show, and that’s working maybe two days a week,” he said.

“We also hire and borrow sets from other theatre companies.

“I like to build them to a good standard though and we’ve won awards for our sets in the past.”

Mr Janetzki is now working on the council’s latest production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

“We started working on the sets in February and opening night is in May,” he said.

“I used to work on the sets outside of hours, but now I can do it during the week.”

Mr Janetzki said in his retirement he was also looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren in both Horsham and Geelong.

Despite numerous jobs over the years, Mr Janetzki said he still had the original bike he used to ride around Horsham, looking for work as a teenager.

“I got that bike for my 16^th birthday – it’s now 52 years old,” he said.