Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

===Career origins===
In 1960, at age 18, Gacy became involved in politics, working as an assistant [[precinct captain]] for a local [[U.S. Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] candidate. This led to more criticism from his father, who called him a "patsy".{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=36–37}} The same year, Gacy's father bought him a car. He kept the vehicle's title in his own name until Gacy had paid for it, which took several years. His father would confiscate the keys if Gacy did not do as he said. In April 1962, Gacy purchased an extra set of keys; in response, his father removed the [[distributor cap]], keeping the component for three days.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=40–55}} Hours after his father replaced the cap, Gacy left home and drove to [[Las Vegas]], Nevada, with $136 to his name in the hope of residing with a cousin.<ref name="Vegas">{{cite magazine|last=Wilkinson|first=Alex|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/04/18/conversations-with-a-killer|title=Conversations With a Killer|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=April 10, 1994|access-date=February 14, 2023}}</ref>

Gacy worked in the Las Vegas ambulance service before being transferred to Palm Mortuary. He worked as a mortuary attendant for three months, observing morticians [[embalming]] bodies and occasionally serving as a pallbearer.{{sfn|Hunter|2022|p=52}} He slept on a cot behind the embalming room and later confessed that one evening, while alone, he clambered into the coffin of a teenage male, embracing and caressing the body before experiencing a sense of [[Acute stress reaction|shock]].{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}{{efn|Gacy later claimed to have engaged in acts of [[necrophilia]] twice while he worked at Palm Mortuary. He claimed the bodies were "just dead things" who "couldn't tell anybody".{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=342–351}}}} This experience prompted Gacy to return home.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|p=347}}

Shortly thereafter, Gacy enrolled at [[Northwestern College (Illinois)|Northwestern Business College]], despite having failed to complete high school. He graduated in 1963 and took a management trainee position with the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=40–55}}{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=18–28}} In 1964, the company transferred him to [[Springfield, Illinois]], to work as a salesman, and eventually promoted him to department manager.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}} In March of that year, he became engaged to Marlynn Myers, a co-worker.{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=18–28}}

During their courtship, Gacy joined the local chapter of the [[United States Junior Chamber|Jaycees]].{{sfn|Foreman|1992|pp=50–58}} That same year, he had his second homosexual experience. According to Gacy, a colleague in the Jaycees plied him with drinks and invited him to spend the evening on his sofa; the colleague then performed oral sex on him while he was drunk.{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|p=7}} By 1965, Gacy had risen to the position of vice-president of the Springfield Jaycees{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=18–28}} and was named the third most outstanding Jaycee in Illinois.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=40–55}}