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.

He was born in Chicago in 1913 and had a sister Mary Oremus Butcher. The children and their mother emigrated to Europe in 1915. His mother died of diphtheria a few months later and he and his sister returned to the United States a few years later to live with their father, moving to 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 married Angeline Mularski (1916-1983) and had the following children: Dorothy Oremus who married John Howard Lindauer; 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 grew it to a medium-sized business by the mid-1970s as he split his time between his aggregate and ready mixed concrete business and mayor. His late son, John W. Oremus (1936-1997), took over as head of Prairie Material Sales in the 1960s. Through new plant development and acquisitions around Chicago, plus northern and central Illinois and Indiana, he grew the company into the country's largest independent ready mixed producer with a fleet of 800 vehicles as of 2006. J. Alan Oremus, the grandson of John A. Oremus, is now president of Prairie Group, the parent company of Prairie Material Sales, Inc. and Illinois Brick.

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.