The notoriety that resulted introduced him to JoBeth Johnson, who soon became his wife, and they moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon.
After initially belonging to various denominations of Christianity, Ravellette and several of the family converted to the Baháʼí Faith between 1967 and 1970.
Later divorced, Ravellette moved to Teaneck, New Jersey and then Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he rescued an elderly woman in a burning car and again won national recognition.
At age 16, Ravellette rejoined his family partly because he was a discipline problem, but he had in fact been initially barred from attending the public high school by the contemporary public school principle equating physical handicaps with mental handicaps.
While attending an Allentown public high school, Ravellete's rebellious and confrontational attitude built him a reputation.
"[8] After graduating circa 1957, Ravallette and his family moved to Oceanside, California and Ravellette ran away from home.
[1] While he was unemployed in 1962, he drove from Los Angeles to his home in San Diego, where he was pulled over in a line of cars for speeding.
[13] In 1967,[2] after attending community college, Ravellette moved to San Diego, where he lived in a boarding house,[1] and performed parlor tricks.
[2] Soon his mother[15] and wife[16] were visible serving in the religion and the Ravellettes had a second child May 21, 1970, after they moved to Eugene, Oregon.
[1] Following this he had the opportunity to go back to Good Shepherd in Allentown, Pennsylvania for a reunion[21] and began a period of reconnecting with his family while at the same time he met his future wife.
[22] He also began to speak publicly, including as a frequent guest at a journalism class of Chuck Stone[1] at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,[23] and elsewhere,[9] using stories of his life and physical challenges to underpin larger lessons on the benefits of diversity, justice, equality, and the unity of humankind.
Inspired by his beliefs as a long-time member of the Baháʼí Faith, he often quoted one of his favorite lines from Baháʼí literature, "Noble have I created thee; why hast thou abased thyself" and observed that he was in a special position to serve humanity because of his differences, saying "Why was I born?