John W. Rogers Sr.

John W. Rogers Sr. (September 3, 1918 January 21, 2014) was an American attorney and military aviator. He served as a Cook County, Illinois Juvenile Court judge, attorney, U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Pursuit Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails". He was one of the 1007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.

He was the father of John W. Rogers Jr. (born March 31, 1958), an investor.

Early life He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 3, 1918. In 1922, his mother Ann died when he was 4. He was one of America's first thirty-four African American combat fighter pilots.

After the war he left the U.S. Army Air Corps with the rank of Captain.

Law career Rogers Sr. attended the University of Chicago Law School, graduating in 1948 with a Juris Doctor degree. Though the University of Chicago's admissions office initially rejected him, he returned to the office donning his U.S. Army Air Corps' officer uniform, making an argument that anyone who has served America during the war deserved admittance. The University of Chicago Law School rescinded its rejection, admitting Rogers Sr relied on academic funding provided by the GI Bill. In 1998 he retired from the bench. founded in 1983.

In 1961, he and Jewel divorced. In 2016, the City of Chicago renamed section of 57th Street between Stony Island and Cornell Drive on the Chicago's South Side in honor of Rogers Sr.