John E Rooney

John E. Rooney III was born and raised on Chicago's South Side. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from John Carroll University in Ohio and an MBA in finance from Loyola University. He said the Jesuits educated him but his father John, a sales manager, taught him life lessons on how to work with people. Rooney held various executive positions with the Federal Reserve Bank, Pullman Inc., Firestone and Ameritech. When SBC took over Ameritech, Rooney grabbed his exit package and left. He was quickly snapped up by U.S. Cellular in April 2000. Rooney is credited with turning around this wireless provider by creating a culture of putting the customer first, a mantra that extends from the top throughout all 9,000 U.S. Cellular employees, he said. Rooney also had an impact on the Chicago White Sox by signing a 23-year naming rights deal for the South Siders' ballpark in 2003. The highlight was the 2005 World Series win, he said. Rooney had said he was proud of his work and he could sleep at night, knowing he did what he felt was right for the company. But personally speaking, it was a tough four years while his wife battled cancer. He stayed at his wife's side for her last six weeks of life ending in January 2010. His elderly mother also later died. Rooney insisted at the time there was no connection between his retirement and his wife's death. It was "just time" to retire, he said, adding he wanted to enjoy life and his family. Rooney is survived by daughters Kathleen Gallagher and Colleen Bradley, along with nine grandchildren.