John A. Oremus (1913–2002)

John A. Oremus (December 29, 1913 – April 4, 2002) was the mayor of Bridgeview, Illinois and the founder of Prairie Material Sales, Inc., one of the Midwest's largest suppliers of construction materials.

Biography
A Croatian American, he was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 29, 1913 and had a sister Mary Oremus Butcher. His mother and siblings emigrated to Europe in 1915 and his mother died of diphtheria a few months later. He and his sister returned to the United States a few years later to live with their father in Bridgeview, Illinois. He then attended Argo High School as a sophomore. Oremus was first elected mayor in 1955, but lost the 1959 election. He then won the 1963 race. He retired as mayor in 1999. He died on April 4, 2002.

Family
He married Angeline Mularski (1916–1983) and had the following children: Dorothy Oremus; Robert J. Oremus; John W. Oremus (1936–1997) aka Jack Oremus; and Thomas R. Oremus (1939–1998).

Prairie Material Sales
Prairie Material Sales was originally involved in coal hauling and delivery in 1948 when it was founded. He split his time between his aggregate and ready mixed concrete business and working as mayor. John W. Oremus (1936–1997), took over as head of Prairie Material Sales in the 1960s. He grew the company into the country's largest independent ready mixed concrete producer. J. Alan Oremus, the grandson of John A. Oremus, was president of Prairie Group, the parent company of Prairie Material Sales, Inc. and Illinois Brick until the sale of the concrete and aggregate business in 2008. In that year the Oremus family sold Prairie Material to VCNA&mdash;the North American division of Votorantim.

David Plummer is the current president of Prairie Material.

Legacy

 * The John A. Oremus Center in Bridgeview, Illinois is named in his honor.
 * The John and Angeline Oremus Fine and Performing Arts Center is at the Moraine Valley Community College.