Jack Roeser

John Otto Roeser (August 31, 1923 – June 13, 2014) was an American engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, businessman, civic leader and candidate for elected office.

Roeser was born in Chicago, the youngest son of Irene and Otto Roeser. As a boy, he designed and built free flight model aircraft winning national championships.

Roeser was the chairman and founder of Otto Engineering Inc. in Carpentersville, Illinois, which manufactures electronic control and communication switches for aerospace, medical and industrial uses since 1961. In 2006, Otto had over 500 employees and annual sales of over $79 million. He received over 50 patents in electrical, mechanical, machinery and marine products.

In 1948, he received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois graduating with Pi Tau Sigma honors. In 1996, Roeser was chosen as an Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Illinois.

After graduating from the University of Illinois and before founding Otto Engineering, he worked at the Hawthorne Works and started three other businesses that are now owned by other corporations. the most prestigious is the Chicago-Mackinac Cup awarded in 1988 for winning the 90th running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. Roeser lived in Barrington, Illinois, with his wife, Jeannine.

Civic and political activities Roeser was the founder and president of the Family Taxpayers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The foundation claims as its primary focus the promotion of school choice as a catalyst for improvement in the public school system and as a vehicle for choices in education that will benefit students and empower parents.

Roeser was the publisher of Champion News, an internet news service which also had a Chicago talk radio program broadcast on WIND (AM) 560 AM.

Roeser challenged the incumbent Governor Jim Edgar in the Republican primary in 1994 and lost the election, receiving only 25% of the vote. He also served by appointment on Governor Edgar's Education Transition Team and Lamar Alexander's Education 2000 in Illinois. and was active in the movement. He "was a generous donor to local and national GOP candidates". During his ill-fated run for Governor of Illinois in 1994, many Republican insiders were dismissive of Roeser's appeal, even among Republicans, especially more moderate Republicans.

As noted by the Chicago Tribune in his obituary, while Roeser never disavowed any comments he had made, his own rhetoric also helped to cast him as an outsider. Most candidates he backed in major politics went down in defeat — including his own ill-fated bid against Gov. Jim Edgar in 1994.

In 2004, a Federal Election Commission complaint by a Washington, D.C.–based group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, alleged that Roeser illegally funded a series of attack advertisements against Barack Obama who was running for the U.S. Senate against Alan Keyes. Roeser, who pledged to raise $1 million for Keyes' campaign, contributed $40,000 to Empower Illinois and a related group and also met with Keyes to discuss his campaign. According to a settlement issued by the FEC, the Empower Illinois Media Fund violated campaign rules by raising money to defeat Obama without registering with the FEC as a political committee or complying with federal contribution limits and reporting requirements. Empower Illinois agreed to pay a $3,000 penalty and retroactively report its expenses and contributors. But the FEC could not prove Roeser was complicit in the groups' violations.

Awards Business High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, 1991 "Miracle on 41st Street" Award by St. Elizabeth School

Otto Engineering Roeser's company, Otto Engineering, manufactures military-qualified switches and other products It has over 450 employees and has been awarded 278 government defense contracts. From 2000 to 2013, these contracts have netted Otto Engineering $5,142,512.