 Roeser was born in Evanston, Illinois on July 23, 1928 and graduated from Saint Juliana elementary school and the William Howard Taft High School in Chicago.He graduated from Saint John's University (Minnesota) in Collegeville, Minnesota with a bachelor's in English literature.He continued his education in graduate studies at DePaul (English), Loyola University of Chicago (political science) and Harvard University (political science).