Kasson man went from entry level to lead technologist in the lab at Mayo Clinic
By Patricia Buschette
“Figure it out.”
This was a phrase that Jim Checkel, 65, of Kasson, Minn., heard multiple times in his 41-year career at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. And over and over again, he figured it out. In fact, after starting as an entry level tech, Jim figured it out so many times in his career that he moved all the way up to lead technologist in the lab.
Jim was born and raised in Kasson and graduated from Kasson-Mantorville High School in 1978. With diploma in hand, Jim started looking for a job.
“My father believed that farming was not a good future,” Jim said, “so I signed up for a chemical lab tech course at Rochester Vo-Tech. (The course) got dropped so I took a two-year auto mechanics class.”
Jim worked for a Dodge dealership before Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 1980. He filled out the summer working for farmers, but then decided he needed to get a job. Consistent with Jim’s philosophy, he looked for alternatives to use his education. Kasson is just a few miles from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, so he conceived a plan.
“Mayo has cars. Someone has to work on their cars,” he reasoned, “and I applied for a job to maintain them.” Jim was told that Mayo leases their cars, so he was wasting their time. He went home and expected he would not hear from them again.
“I got a call from Mayo two weeks later. ‘Have you ever worked with animals on the farm?’” Jim’s farm experience offered those credentials.
“Mayo used animals for research so I was in charge of a 3,500 mouse breeder colony. There wasn’t enough work,” Jim said, “I got his work done in three days. (When I was done with my work) I would go in to other labs. I would ask, ‘What are you guys doing? Can I do that?’ So, I got experience doing things I would not have ever done.” After one year the mouse breeder colony was moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. Gerald Gleich in the allergy lab met with Jim and confronted him with a number of questions: “‘Do you know how to do this? . . . and this? . . .and this? . . .’ He gave me a list of about 20 things, and they were things I had been doing by just walking into other labs. I assured Dr. Gleich that I knew how to do such things. He certainly thought I was lying.”
The doctor then asked about Jim’s experience in additional matters, responsibility in which Jim had no expertise. Jim told him, “I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about, but I am willing to try,” he said. “So, I got hired to work in asthma and allergy research. My job was to do their animal work and equipment maintenance so I got hired for that and I started working in the lab. I was afraid I was going to be fired because there wasn’t enough work for me to do, and I wasn’t keeping busy.”
Dr. Gleich’s response was, “Maintain those machines.” Jim protested saying that he didn’t know anything about them. “You told me you were an auto mechanic, figure it out.” Dr. Gleich responded.
Jim then worked on equipment as well as the work for which he had been hired. After two years they were switching over to growing cells in cell culture. Gleich said he wanted Jim to be in charge of the cell culture room. Jim protested saying he had never grown cells.
Dr. Gleich’s response was immediate. “You told me you were a farmer. Farmers grow stuff. Figure it out.” That was at the beginning of cell culture. Jim’s response was straightforward. “I would go in and try something, and if that didn’t work out, I would try something else until it did work.”
After it was established, Dr. Gleich started sending Jim to other labs to help set up cell culture centers. “That was my job for several years. I worked in different buildings helping set up different cell culture centers. I did that for nearly 30 years and then worked with Dr. Kita. I did whatever had to be done. I went from entry level tech to the lead technologist in the lab.”
“I would help co-author cell culture papers. If a lab from another country called looking for information, they were told, ‘I don’t know . . . just ask Jim. He knows that stuff,’” adding that “If you do a search of my name you will see that I am on papers with labs from Israel and other countries.”
An online search identifies 30 papers co-authored by James L. Checkel of the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. MMS (Mayo Medical School Department of Neurology) – No degree.
“I was moved up to the point where I was in charge of several projects and then Mayo came to me and said I could not be the lead in a lab without a MD, Masters or PhD. I was told I was an auto mechanic. There were no openings for me. I had helped Dr. Kita set up a lab, and I asked him, ‘Do you remember that I set up the lab?’”
Dr. Kita responded, “Of course I remember … how could I not remember?”
Jim said he wanted a job. Dr. Kita considered hiring him, but Mayo officials reminded him that Jim didn’t have the qualifications. However, Dr. Kita had outside funding. “He was the one who had the funding and could hire whomever he wanted,” Jim said.
Jim took a massive pay cut and went to work. “I worked for Dr. Kita just shy of 12 years, retiring 2-22-22.” That date was the day of Jim’s mother’s birth. She had always wanted to go to Egypt, and so in memory of her, he went to Egypt, a trip that began a series of travel. He has traveled to 44 countries, 37 states and has visited Washington DC 5 times.
When Jim’s father decided to sell the family farm, he purchased it. After farming it for 20 years, he rented it to a farmer who tills the land consistent with environmentally sound farming practices. After many adventures he still sees the value in agriculture. Jim describes himself as “a nut about farm history” and wants people to be enthused about going into ag. He continues his interest in agriculture, while the outbuildings on his farm serve as storage for his extensive collections.