Gerald (Jerry) Ray Sommer, 82, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 27, 2023, near his home in Sykesville, Maryland.

Jerry was born on November 2, 1940 in Rockford, Illinois to George and Mildred (Nelson) Sommer. As a child, his family moved to Marshfield, Wisconsin where Jerry grew up helping on the family farm. While in high school, he met Sally Reigel at Marshfield Alliance Church and was smitten. After graduating from Marshfield High School in 1959, Jerry proposed. Sally said no. So, Jerry joined the Marines. (Actually, the story goes that first he threw away the ring. Then he joined the Marines.) He served as a cook for four years in California at Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps cold weather training center in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He would say that was the second-best decision he ever made. The best decision was trying once more with Sally. This time she said yes, and they were married on November 20, 1965. Their first child, David, was born in 1971, followed by their daughter, Rebecca, in 1976.

After being discharged from the Marines, Jerry began his over 40-year career in food service management at Montgomery Ward, working his way up the career ladder and across the country from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Bolingbrook, Illinois, and finally Sykesville, Maryland. In fact, his travels for work (and sometimes pleasure) ultimately took Jerry to 49 of the 50 states, missing only Alaska. He later worked for McCrory Store, Horn & Horn buffets, and finally ended his career, retiring from Old Country Buffet, Inc. in 2007.

One of Jerry’s most admirable qualities was his ability to find pleasure and fulfillment in the small, seemingly inconsequential parts of life. Good food, good music, and a good nap made for Jerry’s ideal day. He loved history, politics, and the Marine Corps. Most of all though, he treasured time with his family. From his days tinkering with cars in high school and throughout his life, Jerry could fix anything, and he generously shared that skill with so many, whether he was helping David trims trees in his yard, replacing every light fixture in Becky’s first house (yes, ALL of them) or following behind Sally with his toolbox, ready to help anyone who had a need. He was a man of faith, showing evidence of that faith through his model of God’s sacrificial love.

With Sally’s devastating battle from Alzheimer’s, and his own worsening health from Parkinson’s disease, the last few years of Jerry’s life were not easy. But his love for, and commitment to his high school sweetheart never wavered.

He lived his life for God and his family and is, and will forever be, so greatly missed by all those who loved him!

Jerry is preceded in death by his parents, George and Mildred Dixon Sommer and his in-laws, Harland and Delores Reigel, as well as his brothers-in-law Jim Guetschow, Marvin Mielke, Stephen Reigel, Daniel Reigel, Duaine Berhow, and Gordon Fisher.

He will be dearly missed by his wife of 57 years, Sally (Reigel) Sommer and his children, David Sommer and Rebecca (Sommer) Krage. In addition, he is survived by brothers and sisters; Beverly Mielke, Richard (Caroline) Sommer, Douglas (Brigitte) Sommer, Barbara Guetschow, and Donald (Susan) Sommer; daughter-in-law Jill Sommer, son-in-law, Michael Krage, and grandchildren, Mary, Margaret, and Thomas Sommer, and Elinor, Amelia, and Eliza Krage; as well as sisters-in-law, Nancy Berhow, Patricia Fisher, Lorraine Reigel, and Leslie Reigel.

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