John M. Freckleton was born October 6, 1913 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Wilford Woodruff and Arlie Medley Freckleton. He graduated from high school in Provo and received a B.A. and M.A. in English from BYU. He married Vera Mary Teeples in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on January 6, 1943. Military service during World War II was in Texas and on Iwo Jima. He taught school in Wyoming and in Orem, Utah; teaching literature, creative writing, humanities and journalism. He retired in 1979 after 35 years.
John was noted for his knowledge and work in photography, numismatics, fossils and minerals, desert biology, art, music and poetry. Several poems have been published and he himself published three volumes of his work. After retirement John served as a docent at the BYU Life Sciences Museum. He was an active member of the LDS Church and held numerous positions.