After dropping out of high school in his senior year, Gacy moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to work in a mortuary. Three months later, Gacy returned to Chicago, where he enrolled in and graduated from Northwestern Business College. After graduating, Gacy worked as a shoe salesman for the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company. In 1964, Gacy was transferred to Springfield, Illinois, where he met Marlynn Myers. The couple married in September 1964.