Jesse Besser was born near Buffalo, NY in 1882. Before his 2nd birthday, his parents moved the family to Rust Township (Montmorency County).  At age 16, Jesse and his family moved to Alpena, and his father invested in a shingle and stave mill in Alpena. Jesse helped his father in the mill while he continued his education at Alpena High School.

Due to the decline in the lumber industry and in business for the shingle mill, Herman Besser (Jesse's father) and other area lumbermen started the Alpena Portland Cement Company.  In 1902, Jesse's father purchashed a crude concrete block-making machine and, in 1904 obtained an old foundry.  He then pursued the manufacturing of machinery that produced concrete block.

Jesse initially worked with the company as a bookkeeper; however, he was quickly transferred to the engineering department when he redesigned the hand-operated block machine.  At age 22, the genius of Jesse was released.  He began making improvments to every machine.  Jesse developed many of the ingenious and practical features the won world leadership for Besser equipment.

In August of 1906, Jesse married Anna Miller Mulvena.  Anna assisted at the company every day and complemented Jesse's engineering interests.  

At age 43, upon his father's retirement, Jesse became president of the Besser Manufacturing Company.   By 1937, Besser machinery had entered the international market.  Jesse's nephew, Philip Park, recognized the potential for concrete masonry overseas and took a machine to Venezuela to produce block for a housing project.  During WWII, Besser Manufacturing converted to wartime production of winches and breech-blocks for the Navy.  The company recieved the prestigious "E" for Excellence, an Army-Navy Prodcution Award for uninterrupted quality production.

The first block-producing machine had the capacity of making 200 block during a 10 hour day.  By 1954, machines could produce 10,000 block in the same period of time.  Adhereing to the goal of quality brought Mr. Besser much fame and fortune.  Jesse and Anna looked for ways to share thier fortune.  In 1944 they became dedicated philanthropists and organzied the Besser Foundation to provide financial assistance to qualified non-profit organizations.

In 1965, at age 83, Jesse stepped down as president of Besser Company, and because he and Anna had no children, Jesse's nephew, Philip Park, assumed the leadership postion of the company. 

In 1964, as a gift from Jesse and other contributors, Alpena citizens became the recipients of the Jesse Besser Museum.  In return local citizens collected funds to help purchase highly specialized projection and control equipment for a planetarium in the center of the new Museum.  To this day, the Besser Museum is the only museum to host a Planetarium in Northern Michigan.  Along with the Museum, Jesse helped bring to life the First Presbyterian Church and the First Congregational Church.

Alpena was home for Jesse until his death on May 3, 1970, shortly before his 88th birthday.  Anna passed away a few years ealier in 1958.

The impact of Jesse's dedication of wealth and service to the improvment of our community, and other around the world, cannot be measured in our time, but will benefit generation upon generation to come.