Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

===Childhood===
John Wayne Gacy was born at Edgewater Hospital in [[Chicago]], Illinois,{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|p=5}} on March 17, 1942, the second of three children and only son of John Stanley Gacy and Marion Elaine Robison.{{sfn|Foreman|1992|pp=50–58}}<ref>"Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871–1920," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21V-G1HK {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008222643/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21V-G1HK |date=October 8, 2021 }} : 28 November 2018), John Gacy and Marion E Robertson, 07 Jan 1939, citing Cook County Clerk. Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 102504570.</ref> His father was an auto repair machinist and [[World War I]] veteran, and his mother was a homemaker.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=24–26}}{{sfn|Amirante|2011|p=67}} Gacy was of [[Polish people|Polish]] and [[Danes|Danish]] ancestry, and his family was [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522032202/https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-wayne-gacy|archive-date=May 22, 2020|url=https://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544|title=John Wayne Gacy Biography|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=February 11, 2019|website=[[Biography.com]]|publisher=[[A&E (TV network)|A&E]]|orig-year=April 2, 2014|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Cahill|1986|p=37}}

Gacy was close to his mother and two sisters, but had a difficult relationship with his alcoholic father who was verbally and physically abusive to his family.{{sfn|Foreman|1992|pp=50–58}}{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=17–21}}{{efn|Gacy's father would drink alone in the family basement almost every evening before dinner, where his family would frequently hear him talking aloud to himself or holding imaginary conversations with friends who had died in World War&nbsp;I.{{sfn|Hunter|2022|p=24}}}} The elder Gacy frequently belittled his son, calling him "dumb and stupid" and comparing him unfavorably with his sisters. One of Gacy's earliest childhood memories was of his father beating him at age four for accidentally disarranging car engine components.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=18–19}} His mother tried to shield her son from his father's abuse, which resulted in accusations that he was a "sissy" and a "mama's boy" who would "probably grow up queer".{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=24–26}}{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=40–55}} In 1949, Gacy's father whipped him after he and another boy were caught sexually fondling a young girl.{{sfn|Amirante|2011|pp=218–219}} The same year, a family friend began to occasionally [[Sexual abuse|molest]] Gacy.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=17–21}} Gacy never told his father, afraid that his father would blame him.{{sfn|Foreman|1992|p=54}} Despite their challenging relationship, Gacy loved his father,{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=17–21}} but felt he was "never good enough" in his father's eyes.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=33–34}}

Gacy was an overweight and unathletic child. Because of a heart condition, he was told to avoid sports.{{sfn|Foreman|1992|pp=50–58}} In the fourth grade, Gacy began to experience [[Syncope (medicine)|blackout]]s. He was hospitalized on occasion because of these episodes and also, in 1957, for a [[appendicitis|burst appendix]].{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=18–28}} Gacy later estimated that between the ages of 14 and 18, he had spent almost a year in hospital; he attributed the decline of his grades to missing school.{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|p=5}}{{efn|Gacy attended [[Cooley Vocational High School]], but transferred to [[Prosser Vocational High School]] after one year. He dropped out of school midway through his sophomore year.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/10/archives/suspect-in-mass-deaths-is-puzzle-to-all-affable-driven-businessman.html|title=Suspect in Mass Deaths Is Puzzle to All|first=Douglas E.|last=Kneeland|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 10, 1979|access-date=April 23, 2022|archive-date=April 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408081807/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/10/archives/suspect-in-mass-deaths-is-puzzle-to-all-affable-driven-businessman.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}} Gacy's medical condition was never conclusively diagnosed; his father suspected he was [[malingering]]. On one occasion, he openly accused his son of faking as he lay in a hospital bed.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=31–36}}