Dimond was born on December 28, 1918, in Valdez, the middle child of three born to Dorothea M. Dimond, and future Valdez mayor and
Alaska Territory delegate
Anthony Dimond. He had two sisters and grew up with Anthony Dimond's godson,
Bill Egan, Alaska's first governor. In the early 1930s, Egan gave John Dimond and future
Anchorage Mayor
George M. Sullivan boxing training, once leading to an incident where Dimond punched Egan hard and he fell out of a window. Sullivan and Dimond waited for minutes for Egan to re-appear, although as time went on, Egan was nowhere to be seen. Egan suddenly burst through the door and said "Ok, boys, the lesson is over for today." Dimond went on expeditions with Father
Bernard Hubbard, nicknamed the "
Glacier Priest". Dimond was seriously burned in a boating accident, while helping build the
National Shrine of St. Thérèse in Juneau. He was burned by the fumes from a nearby leaking gasoline tank which exploded. Dimond served in the
U.S. Army during
World War II, receiving the
Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the
Purple Heart, the Asiatic Pacific Medal with two bronze stars, and the
Philippine Liberation service medal with a bronze star. == Career ==