John Joseph Aguirre, Sr. (born Ruben Mendez in Brownville, Texas on July 26, 1944) was adopted by Luisa de Gracia Aguirre and Miguel Aguirre as an infant.

John joined the United States Marine Corps on January 28, 1964. He loaded bombs on planes targeting Viet Nam on the USS Midway for one year, along with being a Brig Security Officer. He later attended Marine Security Guard School and was shipped off to the US Embassy in London, England and then to the American Consulate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Returning to the United States from Germany John, was assigned to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base until his release with an Honorable Discharge and as a Sgt. E-5.

Returning to Houston, Texas John attended the University of Houston earning a BA in Radio & Television Mass Communications while working at KHOU-TV (where he did his first live show with Face The Nation and Walter Cronkite with the returning Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969, KPRC-TV, and two Presidential press conferences while directing/producing/editing/and camera work in various other venues.

After 6 years in the Houston television market, he took a position as a producer/director for the PBS station KAET at Arizona State University, Tempe. He worked on shows about public affairs and news and was given a commendation from Governor Bruce Babbitt for his creation of a bilingual cooking program for the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Network. He was a fluent Spanish speaker.

He next applied for a job at CBS Television Studios, Los Angeles, where he was employed for 30 years and was one of the happiest guys in television. He loved his job! Studio work consisted of The Young and the Restless Soap Opera, The Price is Right, The Carol Burnett Show, The Bold and the Beautiful Soap Opera, Family Feud, Dinah Shore, Mike Douglas, Tim Conway, Mary Tyler Moore shows, All in the Family and Threes Company sit-coms.

Also, he worked for 13 years with CBS Sports Field Work – 13 seasons of NFL Football, including 3 Super Bowls, 11 seasons of NBA Basketball, 7 seasons of PGA Golf, and NCAA Final Fours, Olympic Trials and gymnastics. He garnered five Emmy nominations for CBS On The Air (1977), The Masters Golf Tournament (1987), The Price is Right (1989), The Young and the Restless (1989), and Dennis Miller Live for HBO (1999). John retired from CBS in 2006.

He leaves behind his wife Pat of almost 56 years, son John Jr., daughter Tiffany Lee Johnston, grandson Dylan Aguirre, grandson Kagan Johnston, granddaughter Jolee Johnston, brother Tony Gracia, sister-in-law Muguette Alder (Steve), sister-in-law Vanessa Gladkowski (Alan), nieces Rachel Chappelear (Daniel), Kristin Alder, Ami Murray (Rob) and good CBS friend Joe Vicens.